Britain braces for more floods

Britain braces for more floods
AGENCE PRESSE FRANCE

LONDON, NOV 5: Battered by gales, downpours and its worst flooding in 40 years, Britain is bracing for yet more torrential rain amid warnings by officials that there was still "a lot of grief to come".

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott announced on Saturday that the government is to spend $75 million on flood defences over the next four years.

He said that 400 extra troops had been put on standby by the Ministry of Defence to help in emergency work, adding to the 500 soldiers already at flood scenes across the country, including York, North England, where they have helped to lay 65,000 sandbags around the city centre.

Prescott said it was vital to provide fresh personnel to relieve exhausted emergency workers.

The measures are designed to prevent the kind of damage and disruption that has paralysed Britain over the past few weeks.

They follow a meeting today of health, transport, agriculture and environment ministers to find ways of avoiding new flooding and discussing what should be done for flood victims.

Prescott warned that storms and heavy rain were expected to begin again by midday tomorrow sweeping in from the South and West England to drench the whole country over the following 48 hours.

Meanwhile, the overflowing Severn river continued to rise, flooding another 20 houses in low-lying areas of Shrewsbury and Worcester in central England, which have already suffered floods for several days.

Meanwhile the British government is to spend 50 million pounds on flood defences over the next four years, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has announced.

The measures are designed to prevent the kind of damage and disruption that has paralysed the country over the past few weeks.

Although the announcement only applies to England, special payments are being considered for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, Prescott said yesterday.

At a meeting on Saturday, ministers of health, transport, agriculture and the environment discussed measures to avoid new flooding and what should be done for flood victims.

Parts of Britain have seen some of their worst floodingin 40 years over recent days.

The swollen river Ouse in northern England, whose floodwaters have driven 3,000 people from their homes, failed to breach flood defences overnight on Saturday sparing the historic city of York from further damage.

After Britain suffered torrential rain and storms earlier in the week, it is now enduring the worst spate of flooding since the "Great Floods" of 1947, with an estimated 3,000 homes damaged.