11 February 2014
Last updated at 06:47 ET
David Cameron: Repairs will take time
More wet weather is affecting flood-stricken parts of the UK, with severe flood warnings in place along the Thames and in Somerset.
Fourteen severe flood warnings are in place in Berkshire and Surrey, and two in Somerset.
Prime Minister David Cameron said the floods were a “huge challenge” and “we are in it for a long haul”.
A total of 1,600 troops are available to help, with some drafted in to help flood-hit parts of southern England.
Mr Cameron, speaking while on a visit to Dawlish, Devon, where a stretch of railway was washed away in the floods, said: “The government will do everything it can to co-ordinate the nation’s resources; if money needs to be spent it will be spent, if resources are required we will provide them, if the military can help they will be there.
“We must do everything, but it is going to take time to put these things right.”
Mr Cameron will later hold a press conference at Downing Street.
He later tweeted: “After a day visiting flood-hit areas, I’ll update the country on the latest plan of action with a press conference at No10 at 4:45pm.”
About 1,000 homes have been evacuated along the Thames after towns and villages, including Chertsey, Wraysbury and Datchet, were flooded.
Thousands more properties are still at risk. However, some residents have chosen to stay in their homes.
In the Tewkesbury area, in Gloucestershire water levels are expected to rise by a further 30cm (12in) and levels will stay elevated in parts of the county for “some time”, the Environment Agency said.
More than 5,000 properties have been flooded in the last two months after the “most exceptional period of rainfall” to hit parts of England and Wales for nearly 250 years.
Flood levels have also affected Ironbridge in Shropshire as the River Severn continues to rise.
And more than 130 severe flood warnings – indicating a threat to life – have been issued since December.
In other developments:
- More than 100 homes have so far been flooded in Worcestershire
- Snowfall has affected travel in some parts of Wales, with heavy rain and coastal gales forecast.
- Coastal communities in Wales face being abandoned as rising sea levels mean the cost of maintaining defences can no longer be justified
- Telford and Wrekin Council has issued a statement warning residents that the water levels have created a “serious situation”
- Surrey Police say they have been inundated with 999 calls
- Specialist marine police officers along with two boats from the Metropolitan Police are in Weybridge and Chertsey to help
As well as there being 16 severe flood warnings the Environment Agency has also issued about 350 less serious flood warnings and alerts, mostly in southern England and the Midlands.
The Met Office has severe weather warnings in place for rain across parts of south Wales and south-west England, cautioning that “with ongoing flooding in some places, any further rain will only add to the problems”.
BBC weather forecaster Laura Gilchrist said Wednesday could bring the strongest wind so far this winter with an amber warning – meaning “be prepared” and “possible gusts of 80mph or more in exposed areas” areas of the South West.
Residents have told of their homes being flooded and having to move out.
Alice Paice said flood water was up to her waist on the ground floor of her home in Sunbury, Middlesex.
“We have no heating, only an electric heater and the fireplace. Yesterday the water pump went. We can run limited water, but we have no shower or washing machine,” she said.
Georgia Fletcher, who lives in Wraysbury, Berkshire, has been forced to move out of her home although it is on higher ground.
She said: “It’s distressing not being able to get back to your own house. My bedroom is on the ground floor. You don’t know what you’re going to come back to.”
Latest UK weather forecast from the BBC’s John Hammond
Alanna Burns, from Chertsey in Surrey, said while water levels were still rising, there were not enough officials around and no sandbags.
She said people had been left like “sitting ducks waiting for it to happen”.
On the trains, because of flooding near Maidenhead, trains are having to run at a reduced speed between London Paddington and Reading, with journey times extended by up to an hour.
First Great Western is currently advising passengers not to travel.
Services are also suspended on South West Trains between Staines and Windsor and Eton Riverside due to rising water levels, and the main train line from London to Cornwall remains severed at Dawlish, in Devon.
‘No finger pointing’
Earlier Defence Secretary Philip Hammond told the BBC the government had got a “grip” on the crisis and everything was being done to help those affected.
Mr Hammond, who is a also MP for Runnymede and Weybridge, said the military had been called in, extra money given and equipment brought in, some cases from abroad.
“The assets that are needed from across the nation have been mobilised into the areas affected.”
Aerial footage shows the extent of flooding along the Thames
Asked about Environment Agency Chairman Lord Smith, who has faced criticism for not doing enough to help those affected, he said: “I don’t want to spend the time now in the middle of this crisis recriminating and finger pointing.”
Mr Cameron also would not be drawn into criticism of ministers over the crisis.
He said: “Everybody needs to get on with the vital work of bringing all of the nation’s resources to get our road and rail moving, to help people who have been flooded, to plan for the future and to learn all the lessons of the very difficult situation we are in.”
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Flood-hit areas in for "long haul"
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