Ordinary
Britons have so far coped admirably with widespread flooding. But the
rain is still falling. Much of southern England is now sodden, and parts
of the Thames Valley and Somerset are simply underwater. Community
spirit is going to have to sustain the south for a long time yet http://econ.st/1cyEbLF
洪水逼近机场 伦敦恐沦陷
泰晤士河因河水猛涨导致部分河堤决堤，沿河地带形势严峻。首相卡梅伦（中）在泰晤士河畔视察灾区后表示，政府会尽全力救灾。
综合报导，卡梅伦取消原订于下周前往以色列和巴勒斯坦的访问行程，这是他上任以来首度访以巴。他在唐寧街召开的记者会中，坦承英国这次的洪水在好转前，还会更糟，呼吁大眾有心理准备。
卡梅伦说：「威胁绝对没缓和跡象，天气预测显示整个星期还会有强风豪雨，情况在转好前，可能变得更糟。目前在救灾方面，钱不是问题。需要多少钱，就花多少钱，我们將採取一切必要措施。」
英国政府已从荷兰请来了治水专家，协助对抗英国水患。
英国数月来强风豪雨不断，继英格兰西南部大规模淹没，新一轮暴风雨令泰晤士河上游决堤，近千民居淹水。当局在伯克郡、萨里郡和萨默塞特郡16处，发出代表会危及人命的「严重水患警告」，其中14个在泰晤士河沿岸，包括伦敦近郊城镇，几千户疏散。
发16道致命警戒
雪上加霜的是，气象局预测本週仍將是强风夹豪雨的天气型態，降雨量估计达70毫米，泰晤士河行经的伦敦，沿河地区也进入警戒，伦敦恐將沦陷。
位于伦敦近郊的英女王住处温莎城堡，也在新水患警戒区域內。温莎堡因所处地势较高，未受水患威胁，但女王的两名下属在附近的住所已遭水淹，要在温莎堡暂住。当地近千民居淹水，本周估计可能再多几千户。
英国这波洪涝情况十分严重，部分地区水深接近一层楼，许多车子泡水无法动弹，救难人员必须动用橡皮艇撤离被困的民眾全国各地交通因洪水严重受阻，主要火车干道短期內难以全面恢復。
《泰晤士报》以「水世界」形容灾区情景。
英国《每日邮报》更大篇幅报导灾情，炮轰政府救灾不力，在网上发起民眾联署，促政府在110亿英镑（近603亿令吉）海外援助金中拨款救灾。该报又指，財政预算中留有大批金钱作海外救援，却罔顾国民性命，但建议旋即遭卡梅伦拒绝。
当地媒体评「国耻」
面对水患区域扩张，英国政府迄今显得束手无策，官员更互相塞责，引发高度民怨，已演变成政治危机。《每日邮报》评论指这次水灾是「国耻」，不只到处淹水场面难看，更可耻是管治英国的人，连咬紧牙根面对逆境的英国精神也丟了。
国防部长哈蒙德表示，政府正在全力救灾，除了紧急救灾人员，1600名士兵隨时候命，到灾区协助灾民。
政府坦承，疏洪事项是平日就该进行的事，但强调目前以救灾为先，並保证会在事件平息后，进行检討，追究责任。
而原本擬定从週二晚间进行的第2次伦敦地铁48小时大罢工，则在最后一刻宣佈延期，令已被大水和天灾整得焦头烂额的民眾，暂时鬆了口气。
U.K. News
River Thames Bursts Banks, Flooding Homes Near London
Flooding Follows Wettest January Since 1776
Updated Feb. 10, 2014 7:46 p.m. ET
The River Thames burst its banks Monday, flooding hundreds of properties.
i-Images/Zuma Press
LONDON—Hundreds of homes have flooded
and hundreds more are at risk to the west of London after the River
Thames burst its banks on Monday as England continued to suffer from one
of the wettest winters in more than two centuries, authorities said.
With waters predicted to rise further this week, Prime Minister
David Cameron
said the government would do all it could to assist those
affected as he visited flood-hit areas in the southwest of England.
However,
his efforts to present a coordinated response were undermined after
parts of the government blamed each other for not doing more to protect
communities. The opposition Labour Party also accused the government of
being slow to react.
The Environment
Agency, which manages flood defenses, said England has had the wettest
January since 1776 and is heading toward the wettest winter—defined as
the months of December, January and February—in 250 years. Pete Fox, the
agency's National Duty Manager for Flooding, said southern England had
suffered the wettest January on record with some places getting double
the average rainfall.
"Our very latest
figures suggest that we've seen around 800 to 900 properties flooded
since the end of last week," he said in a briefing with reporters,
according to a transcript provided by the government. "We are still
looking and focusing our attention on the Thames."
Continued rains after England's wettest January since
the 18th century have meant severe flooding in southern regions of the
country. Via The Foreign Bureau, WSJ's global news update. Photo: Getty
The flooding has come despite the
efforts of the agency's staff, volunteers and the support of the
military to protect properties from the rising waters. The government
said strategic sites such as water and electrical plants were being
given special attention to ensure that homes weren't left without vital
resources.
Sarah Davies, a senior
adviser at the Met Office, the national weather service, said southern
and western parts of the U.K. were expected to get up to an additional
1.6 inches of rainfall by the end of this week, with 3.5 inches or more
in some upland areas like Dartmoor in the southwest of England and the
Brecon Beacons in Wales. Strong winds in the middle of the week could
also cause disruption.
"So whilst we're
all concentrating on the impacts from the flooding, we also need to be
aware that there could be impacts due to strong stormy winds, and those
could involve trees down, transport disruption, possibly some power
disruption," she told the same briefing.
U.K. Waters Go On Rising
The River Thames has burst its banks flooding riverside
towns upstream of London Monday, after England's wettest January since
1766.
Zuma Press
As of late Monday, the Environment
Agency had severe flood warnings—meaning there is a danger to life—for
14 areas in the southeast of England and two in the southwest, one of
the hardest hit regions. It also warned that flooding was expected and
immediate action required for 131 further areas across England and
Wales, with the highest risk seen in the Midlands, southeast and
southwest of the country, and flooding was also possible in a further
216 areas.
The Thames Barrier, one of
the largest movable flood barriers in the world, closed Monday morning
and would be closed again later until early hours of Tuesday, the agency
said. Since the beginning of January 2014 the barrier, designed to
protect 125 square kilometers of central London from flooding caused by
tidal surges, has been closed 29 times.
"Extreme
weather will continue to threaten communities this week, with further
severe flooding expected Monday evening into Tuesday along the Thames in
[the counties of] Berkshire and Surrey,"
Paul Leinster,
the chief executive of the Environment Agency, said in a
statement. "River levels are high across southwest, central and southern
England and further rain has the potential to cause significant
flooding."
Significant groundwater flooding was also expected in the southeast, including parts of London, the agency said.
Eric Pickles,
the minister responsible for local government, told Parliament
that the River Thames had burst its banks in some locations and police
had declared a major incident.
Some of
the heaviest flooding has been in the Somerset Levels, a coastal-plain
farming area in southwest England about 140 miles from London. The
government has accepted a reduction in dredging of rivers there in the
past may have exacerbated the flooding and apologized.
Coastal
areas have also been battered by heavy winds and high tides. Last week
the sea washed away the ground under a section of railway in the coastal
town of Dawlish, leaving it dangling in the air like a rope bridge and
knocking out a vital rail link connecting the southwestern counties of
Devon and
Cornwall
with the rest of Britain.
Train operators said services were unable to run in parts of the Thames Valley and southwest of England Monday.
"I'm
only interested in one thing and that is making sure that everything
the government can do is being done and will go on being done to help
people through this difficult time," Mr. Cameron told BBC television.
Last week the government pledged an additional 130 million pounds ($213
million) to help households, businesses and farmers cope with the severe
weather.
Nevertheless, a political row
erupted after Mr. Pickles told the BBC Sunday that the government had
relied too much on the advice of the Environment Agency and it had been a
mistake to reduce dredging of rivers in Somerset. Asked whether the
agency's chairman,
Chris Smith,
should resign, he said that was a matter for Mr. Smith.
Mr.
Pickles was called on to help coordinate the flood response after
Owen Paterson,
the minister responsible for the environment, stood aside last
week to have an eye operation. Mr. Paterson had faced criticism over his
handling of the floods.
Mr. Cameron's
spokesman said there was no difference of opinion between the two
ministers following local media reports Mr. Paterson disagreed with Mr.
Pickles' assessment of the agency.
Chris
Smith, the chairman of the Environment Agency, hit back in a radio
interview Monday, saying his staff knew 100 times more about flood
management than any politician and he had no intention of resigning.
The center-left Labour Party said it was unbelievable that officials had embarked on a blame game when homes were at risk.
"Instead
of blaming officials for their decisions and now turning on each other
like ferrets in a sack, ministers must get a grip on this worsening
situation,"
Maria Eagle,
the center-left party's spokeswoman on environmental matters,
said in a statement.
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