Berkshire Floods 2007

Send us your Berkshire flood stories here:

DJB
i am doing a project on flooding and i was just wondering if you could give me some info about it ? please ?

tom
i nearly died cos of a flood

max jones
i was at my friends house and th flood came

ruth
i feel very sorry for all the damage that has been done:(

Meeb
My friends house in Cubbington has flooded, now hes sleeping in a caravan for the time being.

Joanne McCloskey
They say it is good luck to have rain on your wedding day...I was 2 hours late but thanks to God that it still happened. Thatcham was between Donnington valley hotel for the reception and the church at Douai Abbey. The 1919 Silver ghost from Head cars, Newbury, still made it to be able to carry us home but the photographer, Chris from ECP studios, drove me to the church in his 4x4. Thank goodness he knew the back roads which were on high ground. Half the guests didn't make it to the church. The hotel flooded but thankfully they saved the food by knocking a wall down in the basement to relieve the 15 inches of water the other side of the patio doors before the kitchen and restaurant flooded. Many guests spent fours hours plus in the car on a journey that should have been less than an hour. One guest turned around and gave up after 16 hours of trying to get to the wedding. The route from the hotel was blocked one way by a fallen tree and another way by the flood waters near the A34 junction with the M4...but despite all this we still managed to get married and had a lovely evening.

Gerard Saunders
My wife and I have been looking for a place to rent for 2 months. We received notice on my current property due to a new landlord, no argument there, but there was a lack of housing for rent at the begining of August. As time went on we applied for a place in Thatcham, which was flooded the day we applied, since then we have been turned down 2 more times! We have the total deposit in our account waiting for an available property, and godd references from our landlord, but I will not spend £2000 on moving into a flat. Now the only properties available are from the end of September, I have to be out of our current residence by Tuesday 7th August! There simply isn't enough housing in the country, so why don't the people who are voted, and rediculously overpaid, do something about it? They won't touch the country side, or close the doors when the country is full, so we are all starting to feel the squeeze! Please we need COMMON SENSE in government. We are becoming a 3rd world country!

angie from cosy kennels
would just like to update situation at the kennels.all dogs are back in now everything back to normal.river flowing nicley.

K
Can anyone tell me if Southend in Cold Ash is flooded, i'm due to move into my new house in a few weeks!? Thanks

Edmund
I work for a flood protection company based in Berkshire.I am dismayed by the recent flooding as we have worked with people who have suffered from flooding particularly the residents of Carlisle but I am also frustrated as many of the homes could have been protected if the funds were made available to individuals.We have protected hundreds of homes throughout the country and if the E.A. gave the same resources to councils etc as they give to consultants who tell them that when it rains it might flood, then a lot more homes would have been protected.I can understand people using sand bags to try and protect their homes but how many are aware of the health risks posed by contaminated sand bags after the floods have receded and who is responsible for the disposal of the sand bags

Tony Knight
Congratulations to the local authority in supplying us with sandbags in plenty of time for the anticipated surge.We live in Champion Road one of the most vulnerable Lower Caversham roads.Last night mine and a neighbours were stolen from our doors.Pretty low, eh?

a whiddington
I feel VERY sorry for everyone involved in the recent flooding. Thinking about the floods in Goloucester .. do you remember the childs nursery rhyme - Dr Foster went to Gloucester in a shower of rain he steped in a puddle right up to his middle and never went there again .. how long ago was that written - was there flooding there years ago??

Sean Lewis
Friday 20th July 2007 Why is it always when you need to go out does it rain. And boy did it rain. Starting just before lunch it came down as a solid sheet of water. No let up, no respite. I waited as long as I could before leaving, the drive a wash with water and it was starting to creep into the garage but I had to go.Little did I know what would await me as I turned out of my drive. In Cold Ash Fishers lane was a fast flowing river as the water cascaded from the very top of the hill. Times like this I am really glad I drive a large Land Rover 4x4. I drove down Ashmore Green road into Thatcham to be faced by stationary traffic so decided to head back. Turning towards Cold Ash Hill I was told by a very wet and bedraggled Policewoman that the road was closed, but as I had a tall vehicle I could try at my own risk. Typically I only had my phone camera with me and set it to record on the dashboard as I struggled through the waist high raging waters. It was like driving upstream through white water rapids. Debris was washing down the hill and abandoned cars were being swamped. Never have I been so relieved to arrive home. How the poor owners of the flooded houses feel I can only guess. An awesome demonstration of the power of mother nature.(See Sean's video in the YouTube list: Flooding In Thatcham.)

Michael Rich
Wokingham councils response to our house being flooded on Friday...7 sandbags delivered Saturday!

Ian Hayden
I am concerned about the unfair distribution of sandbags, We live on the East Park Farm Estate in Charvil, when the Lodden burst on Saturday evening, sanbags were distributed to all the council tennats on that corner of the estate the following morning. Other residants were ignored by the council even though they were in greater peril. Private residants were told that they would only be given sandbags on demand and then only when "the water was lapping at their door". When i phoned the help line on sunday afternoon I was told they had run out of bags. Fortunatly the waters have retreated for now, but with the thames surge due in the next 24 hours, we feel rather worried.

Chris Gabbett
I helped my friend remove his car (the one pictured above) in Earley. Thanks a lot to all of the community champions who took pictures of us or filmed the scene while we struggled with the canvas ropes. Don't worry, we were enjoying providing the spectacle! And as for the 4X4 drivers who sped past - this was your chance to shine! Another fine example of the philanthropy and positive attitudes for which this country is famous!

Angie from Cosy Kennels in Tilehurst (speaking on
We've evacuated all the dogs from our Kennels. The river is rising and we've been told it's going to get pretty bad because we're only 75 yards away. We've had to take drastic measures.Hopefully the water won't come in because it never has before but we can't risk it. It's all concrete and we can't have the dogs laying in water. The dogs are being taken to Avalon Kennels at Crowmarsh and the dog warden from Reading Borough Council has been very helpful.We've got cars and vans to transport them - they're all happy, none of them are scared, they just think it's great!We were up until 1am this morning and were up again at 6am. All their owners are all abroad and all in the sun, but we've got contact numbers so they know what's going on and they know their dogs are safe.At the moment everything is fine but because we've got 50 dogs you can't leave everything to the last minute.

rob
I work for Dalkia on the help desk. We look after Vodafone's Facillities. Friday was interesting to say the least. Talk about being scared for the people there especially when I took a call about the lake moving slowly towards the main building. Then trying to see if someone was doing anything about it. Luckely a team was on the case.

Su
My parents' garden in Burghfield was under water on Friday. Mum went out to view the damage and discovered a goldfish swimming along the patio. She checked with the neighbours and no one knows where it came from! It is now happily swimming in an (unflooded) neighbour's pond