Hamshire Village under threat of flood as Defences May Fail!

• published: 20 Dec 2012
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Residents of a Hampshire village have been urged to evacuate their homes as heavy rain spreads across the UK - with more than 270 flood alerts and warnings in place. The Environment Agency said that a severe flood warning is in place at Wallington until high tide. It is advising 85 homeowners to leave their properties because of concerns over the flood defences. Cracks have appeared in the wall around the swollen River Wallington. The EA said: "Wallington Village next to River Wallington will be evacuated imminently by Fareham Borough Council and the emergency services. "This is due to a problem in the flood defence around the village. The river is currently just below the top of the defence and cracks have formed in the wall. The river level is very high and will remain so for some time. The wall has cracks in it and may fail." Structural engineers from the council and the EA have inspected the flood wall - that has three cracks in it - but EA operations manager David Robinson said that the main concern was the high tide meeting the rain water after more than 20mm fell in the area overnight. Elsewhere in Hampshire, police are advising people not to travel unless absolutely necessary in the New Forest and Emsworth areas. Torrential winter storms have brought chaos to large parts of England and Wales, with roads closed and cars submerged and scores of flood warnings and flood alerts in place. Across the country, the AA has rescued more than 200 cars that have driven through or become stuck in floodwaters. And forecasters are warning of worse to come. While the rain is expected to ease slightly on Friday, heavy downpours are due again over the weekend. Rainfall, in mm, across the UK on December 20 Heavy rainfall spreading on Thursday morning Southern and south western England, south east Wales, the Midlands and the north east of England have been urged to prepare for flooding. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) has issued various flood alerts and flood warnings across Scotland, while the Met Office told Sky News that around 20-30mm of rain is expected to fall on Thursday in eastern parts of Northern Ireland. Up to 50mm is expected there on Saturday and Sunday. Cornwall Council said more than 100 members of its staff were involved in dealing with flood-related calls overnight and into Thursday. The majority of them related to surface water flooding on some roads, while one man became trapped after driving over a humpback bridge crossing the Bude Canal in north Cornwall. Officials are urging people to avoid driving through roads which are flooded. Meanwhile, the EA has been constructing flood defence barriers in Shrewsbury in preparation for flooding from the River Severn. A car makes its way along a flooded road in Seaham Officials have warned of dangers from flooding The EA manager for Herefordshire and Worcestershire, Dave Throup, tweeted: "First phase going up now, Saturday peak is only from today's rain, maybe larger peak Christmas Day depending on future rain." Flood defences were put up on Thursday in the riverside town of Bewdley in Worcestershire, and at Upton-upon-Severn existing flood barriers were being monitored as the river rose steadily. The EA said the River Wye will also continue to rise, reaching a peak at Ross-on-Wye on Saturday afternoon. Heavy rain has spread across the UK from the South West, falling on ground already saturated from extended periods of rainfall and flooding last month. By early-afternoon the AA said it has attended 224 cars driven through or stuck in floodwater and more than 6,800 breakdowns nationally - 1,100 an hour. The breakdown service said East Dorset and the New Forest in Hampshire were worst affected and there was heavy breakdown demand in London due to Christmas shoppers. It expected to attend up to 14,000 call-outs throughout the day, compared with around 9,500 on an average Thursday