So the BBC News crew have set up shop in my town (Staines) due to the flooding and the PM came walkabout in the Staines area yesterday. I'm near to, but not on, the Thames and the water is over the towpath in my area. The intersection of my road has been flooded by water coming up the storm drains. There is worse flooding up toward where the Staines Town Football Club is located. My immediate area is still dry but given the weather forecast for today and Friday, that may not last. Anyone else treading water? This is from the towpath yesterday:
Note that the towpath is pretty high from the river here and in my 20+ years in this area it's the first time the Thames has topped it.
Jon Snow is reporting for Channel 4 News tonight from in front of the laundrette I usually go to every week. You can't see the shops but I saw them setting up earlier and I recognize the houses in the background.
The landlady from my local pub was on BBC Breakfast this morning. Luckily the Thames has gone down a little - you can now see the towpath in the area of the pic I posted up top. However we have another storm tomorrow into Saturday so that won't help with the flooding caused by the ground water coming up through the storm drains. My immediate area is still dry (knock on wood). And my postman was on Ch 4 News last nite. Footage taken earlier in the day showed him riding his cycle through the flood waters to deliver post!
The Gurkhas have been installing flood defenses around the area and they arrive on my street during the late afternoon to work on the towpath.
There's another stretch to the right of this image and across a nearby field that has been flooded to protect houses that back onto the field. Police have been stationed so metal thieves or vandals don't take the lot.