Cornwall Flooding

My day started really early when I was woken up by loud helicopter noise which was very low. I had no idea at 5am why there was so much noise but once the radio came on at 6.30am it soon became clear. The amount of rain last night was hard, loud and for much of the night. The wind also woke me up but I am not sure what the time was.

Radio 2 news at 7am came on and I was surprised to hear my village/area mentioned plus other nearby areas in Cornwall as being flooded and that the helicopters were helping those who were stranded in their homes. I live near an ideal landing and take off area which is why they seemed so loud.

We put Breakfast TV on and heard of more areas affected but at this time no picutres so I could not gauge how bad it was.

I was not really sure what to do so I go in the car to drive to school.

I soon got caught up in a traffic jam and after waiting a bit I decided to turn back and go another way as I was concerned that I was going to be very late.

I turned down a lane that I have used many times before....big mistake.

Got half way along and found a very very big "puddle". There was another car coming the other way and he started to drive through the deep water. By now two other cars were behind me and none of us could turn around due to the lane not being wide enough. I watched carefully and I thought that he took it a bit quick and the water came right up over his bonnet, but he made it.

I thought that if I got as close to the hedge as possible it may not be as deep, put it in first gear and took it slowly. I could not see any water over the bonnet. If the car had stalled, I doubt that I could have gotten the door open it was that deep.

Luckily I got to the other side and realised that I was holding my breath.

Other cars were starting to turn into the road and I wound down my window and shook my head. Someone else might have gotten stuck even if us three cars did not.

I turned out on to the main road and the traffic soon stopped again. This time I leapt out and got my bag out of the boot in case I needed to ring school to say I would be late.

As I got to the front of the queue I could see that a small leat (small waterway, ditch like) had over flowed and was gushing across the road like a river. Each direction of traffic was taking it in turns to let people go around this and avoid going through the deepest section. I was surprised at the amount of debris lying around too.

Today I saw lots of people being very helpful and considerate where I was.

I drove through that and took the back route to school, stopping for a few mins to call hubby to warn him of what I had seen. He told me later that the way he took (my ususal route) was just the same as the one I took so no regrets for my choice of route afterall).

It was not until I got home and saw the News at 6 and the local programme Spotlight that I found out how bad it all is.

A lot of upset for many people whose homes have been damaged. I hope that the process of insurance etc is not dragged out too long and that repairs can be sorted out quickly. For this to happen so close to Christmas seems to compound the situation, as many may not be back in their homes by the 25th as houses will need to dry out and be cleaned at the very least.

There was a spot on the TV where neighbours were helping to save some fish from what looked like very muddy water (and other things in it) and helping those that needed it.

We were lucky, the flood water stopped just down from us as we live on higher ground but brought home the strength that the natural elements have. However, we do appreciate the phone calls that we had during the day from friends and family asking if we were alright.

As for tonight, more rain has been forecast and there is high tide at 3am!

We shall see what happens, no rain at the moment and it is 11.30pm so lets hope the weather people have got it wrong and it will be a dry night.

Take care

xx