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Show Tuesday. July 24. 2007 DAILY HERALD AS Heavy rain floods Britain, forcing evacuations; River Thames rising spokesman Adrian Westwood. On the outskirts of Oxford, 60 miles west of London, about 50 elderly people were evacuTEWKESBURY, England ated to a stadium from a retireEmergency workers rescued hundreds of trapped people ment community overlooking the swollen River Ock. Monday as water swallowed swaths of central England in "People look at me and say I look fine, but inside I'm all the worst flooding to hft the country for 60 years. Officials churned up," said Sylvia Wilwidow said some rivers were still liams, a among the evacuees. rising, with the western secRiver The stadium was stocked tion of the with blankets, food and bedThames on the verge of bursting its banks. ding for up to 1,500 people Roads and parking lots were in case the Thames burst its submerged, trains suspended, banks. Flood defenses in the center of the town home buses canceled. Hundreds to the renowned of thousands of people were without electricity or drinking university - were holding so far, but Thames water levels water, and farmers saw their were not expected to peak unsummer crops destroyed. til midnight. Torrential rains have The worst-hi- t areas Monday plagued Britain over the past month nearly 5 inches fell were farther west, where cars in some areas on Friday alone were submerged and streets and more downpours were turned into canals. Thousands of people were forced to leave predicted this week. "This emergency is far from their homes and businesses, as over and further flooding is rescue workers in helicopters and dinghies scooped stranded extremely likely," Environment Secretary Hilary Benn residents onto dry land. told lawmakers in the House of The Ministry of Defense said Commons. military helicopters rescued Late Monday, waters more than 120 people from the peaked on the swollen River rising floodwaters, including 87 people trapped in a trailer Severn, which had flooded parts of the city of Gloucester park in Gloucestershire counand nearby areas of ty, central England. England. Among the hardest hit ar"If it goes up another couple eas was the medieval market of inches, Gloucester is in town of Tewkesbury, 110 miles northwest of London, where trouble, but it seems to have the cathedral and a few blocks peaked. ... We're winning," said Environment Agency of nearby houses stood like an Drenched for days Kirsty Wigglesworth TH ASSOCIATED PRESS Torrential rain has plagued Britain, and causing mass evacuations flooding in the past month, the worst to hit the country m 60 years. Rainfall, from July Less than 12 inch 773 12 inch 1 men inch - 2 inches fSSSt 2 inches - 4 inches 4 inches - 8 inches fS!l 1 1 BSl 9 -- m :mi , .. ,i V tfX V 0 100 km If t K 7 North ld west-centr- "Si inV XL i KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTHAssociated Press Tewkesbury Abbey, consecrated in 1 121, is surrounded with floodwater near Tewkesbury, England, on Monday. Torrential rain sweeping through large parts of Britain continued to cause disruption across the country, with warnings that water levels could rise to critical levels. atoll in a vast stretch of muddy water that stood 5 feet deep in places. "It was just devastation total chaos, cars floating past, rubbish, all kinds," said John retired King, a firefighter from Tewkesbury. "You just can't stop water of that power. He said he saw goldfish swimming in his driveway. Some residents lined up for free water at local grocery stores, while others took to canoes and small boats to ferry food and water to housebound residents. The last time Britain saw similar flooding was in 1947, according to the Environment Agency. No deaths or serious injuries have been reported in the current flooding. The Severn Trent Water company said at least 350,000 homes in Gloucestershire, in western England, were without water after flooding shut down a water treatment plant. Tens of thousands were without electricity, and Benn said 200,000 properties could lose power if an electrical substation at Walharn, near Gloucester, is inundated by the River Severn. Workers and Royal Navy sailors piled sandbags around the station in an , ;olKo)5nlc)i(o)n(C-- cjetoi.. AP SOURCES: ESRI; Weather Underground attempt to hold back the water. Westwood said late Monday that with the Severn at its peak, it appeared the defenses would hold. The Ministry of Defense said water was being cleared after flooding at a nuclear g site at Burghf ield, about 40 miles west of London. Officials said there was no risk of a radiation leak. London itself was not affected. The city is protected from flooding in the east by the Thames Barrier, the world's largest moveable flood defense, which closes to seal off part of the upper Thames from the sea. To the west, London is protected by several flood defense measures including the Jubilee diversion River, a channel. The western section of the Thames that officials worried about lies 80 miles weapons-manufacturin- from the capital During a tour of the Gloucestershire region, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced increased funding for flood and coastal defenses across the Country. "It is pretty clear that some of the structures 19th-centur- y "DA" r ft X U and infrastructure and where they were sited is something we will have to review," said Brown, who succeeded Tony Blair less than a month ago. Much of Britain's infrastructure dates to Victorian times. Insurance companies said the damage from flooding in June and July could reach hundreds of millions of dollars. The British weather was consistent with conditions caused by the La Nina weather system, which is caused by cooling ocean waters and leads to extreme weather, Britain's Meteorology Office said. However, scientists said there was no clear explanation for the unusually long spell of wet weather. LI Save more than $50 a year over Comcast with Qwest's Price for Life Guarantee! Comcast's introductory rate may seem Customet like a deal, but when it expires, it'll cost you. With Qwest your price will Let the Sun Shine In- !- Broadband, start low and stay low -- guaranteed. 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