DESPITE UK FLOODING, A YORKSHIRE TOWN REMAINS DRY
Despite widespread flooding in North of Britain last week, Pickering, Yorkshires main flooding region, beat the weather and stayed dry. Notwithstanding, the town had been refused financial aid for a defense mechanism, so it tackled it with wringing success.
The town prevented the recurrent inundation by using what many will call an “old-fashioned”method.
On their own, the citizens worked with nature to control the floods.
The towns triumph should influence the decisions that were made by policy makers after last month’s floods which saw at least £5 billion channeled to flood control schemes elsewhere.
Success of the town is a mock to the people who believe that flood cannot be prevented in an environmental friendly manner. The people who subscribe to this school of thought fail to understand why the government fails to take into account all safety measures, and insist on dredging waterways, in order to order to protect fauna and flora.
Dredging is largely unsafe, pointless and environmentally unsafe. This is because scooping of silt and weed from the river bed causes water to flow faster increasing the danger of downstream flooding.
Pickering is situated at the bottom of a steep gorge draining of the North York moors, the residents of the town have been victims of perennial flooding. There have been 4 floods recorded since 1999-2007 causing damage of about £7 million. The solution mooted to the residents was to build a £20 million wall to keep water out of the river. This solution was however disadvantageous as it would reduce the attractiveness of the area hence reduce tourism. It was also found to be uneconomically viable as the costs would outweigh the benefits accrued; too few people would be protected by the wall.
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