Have floods been getting worse over the past years?
In its weekly voxpop, the Advertiser found out people’s opinions about the floods and its cause.
Transcript
00:00 Yes, I do think the flood's been getting worse and I think the reason for that is the amount
00:10 of building that's going on on the outskirts of Norwark.
00:14 Because you create places where the water can't run off.
00:18 You know, they're what you would call a flood plain.
00:21 But now, where does it go?
00:24 It just stops on the surface.
00:25 Therefore it floods a place.
00:28 It's definitely getting worse when you look at what's happening.
00:32 Places flooding that have never flooded before.
00:35 And it makes you wonder what is happening to the drainage system.
00:40 Is it just that they're trying to save some places and therefore the river's having to
00:45 find a new way out?
00:46 Who knows?
00:48 But definitely getting worse.
00:50 Appalling for people who are stuck with it.
00:53 I think they have got worse over the last few years.
00:55 I mean, everybody points to climate change as being one of the reasons.
01:00 But I think there are several reasons, like building over what was farmland, hard landscaping.
01:07 You know, so it all adds.
01:10 And the flood defences don't seem to work anymore.
01:15 But is this the kind of weather we've got to expect in the future?
01:20 So there are many reasons for it, but I don't think it's a blame game, really.
01:24 You know, that doesn't help anybody.
01:28 Governments will look into the causes and if the effects are due to overbuilding.
01:36 And so, you know, blocking up the natural drainage of the land, too much hard landscaping,
01:46 that sort of thing.
01:47 I'm not sure whether they're getting worse.
01:48 I think they might be getting worse in some areas, but not others.
01:49 We live in North Muskin and our house is right on the river.
01:56 And although the warnings have been very terrifying, I would say, this weekend, the river actually
02:07 has been much higher in previous years.
02:08 It wasn't as high this weekend as it has been, say, in 2000.
02:09 But in villages near us that have got streams and becks, so that's an internal source of
02:25 water, I think it's been worse, actually, than other years.
02:26 But for us, we were bad, but it has been worse other times.
02:26 [END OF TRANSCRIPT]
02:34 but it has been worse at the times.
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