Memorandum submitted by Susan Stoner (FL
20)
GLOUCESTERSHIRE FLOODING
I was not badly affected by the flooding as
my home is relatively high up in the Cotswolds. However, the most
challenging part of the floods was getting out of our staff car
park here in Gloucester and then finding an accessible route out
of town. There was little immediate police presence on the ground
in controlling traffic flow, directing to safe routes or warning
of routes being blocked. There were few signs to indicate road
ahead blocked or which routes were safe. By sheer luck I found
my way out of the city via the higher land near the Station and
on to the 417/419 to Cirencester but this safe route was deserted
while hundreds of vehicles poured onto the motorway only to get
stuck for hours on end.
Some kind of rapid aerial assessment of safe
routes was needed so as to get traffic out more quickly. If police
helicopters were unable to take off, could military aircraft not
be deployed to assess the situation and relay to police on the
ground?
Also, a number of us were desperate to volunteer
and help out but were unable to do so due to lack of training
and lack of capacity of voluntary organisations to manage us.
If such cataclysmic events are to be more frequent, we need some
kind of initiative like the old civil defence programmes of yore!
Sue Stoner
August 2007
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