Sheffield flooded again

A car negotiates a lifted drain cover and geyser on Granville Road yesterday. Further down the hill the Southside block of Castle College was inundated with sewage water.

As Sheffield clears up after the second major flood in two years, questions need to be asked about the capacity of our drains. It is clear that global warming is already bringing far more extreme weather events to our city. Our drains just can't cope with the amount of water that these flash floods bring. I remember people talking about the 2007 floods saying they were a one in a hundred year event- but here we are again two years later, and I'm drying out my cellar again.But I'm one of the lucky ones, at least I've got a cellar! Other folk are clearing up houses that they've only just got straight from the last flood having had sewage water in the main living rooms. It must be heartbreaking. So what should be done? Firstly Yorkshire Water should be investing in improving the drains- we need to plan for the expected increase in these flash floods. Secondly insurance companies could do a lot to help. Many people get discounts for having good security. Why can't we have discounts for having a water butt and/or a green roof? If lots of householders could be persuaded to make these simple improvements it would take a lot of pressure off the drains. Thirdly we need to stop paving over our green spaces. Sheffield City Council have just removed one of the few patches of grass in the city centre as part of the "regeneration" of Tudor Square by the Crucible- and householders all over the city have converted their front garden into a drive for the car. The less soil and grass we have, the worse these flash floods will become. Perhaps there should be a Council Tax discount for householders that maintain a permeable garden.

The Greens have been arguing for years that we need to do more to prepare for global warming. Unfortunately as yet very little has been done and we will be increasingly at the mercy of the elements.

How would the flooding have affected us if we lived in Asia or Africa?

Dear editor

Many people in South Yorkshire recently faced the traumatic experience
of having to leave their homes, either because of actual flooding or
the threat of Ulley dam breaking. Our thoughts are very much with the
people who still can't return to their homes and have lost most of
their possessions.

Imagine for a moment how worse the situation would have been if we
didn't have our excellent emergency services and there had been no
engineers to save the dam or firemen to pump the water away from
flooded streets.Imagine if our houses were not made of brick, but
of sticks and mud,so easily washed away by the torrents. Imagine how
the floods would have affected us if we lived in an Asian or African
village.

As climate change brings more and more extreme weather we will all
suffer from the consequences.In South Yorkshire those that are
suffering most are the people that couldn't afford insurance.In future those
that suffer most from climate change will be the poorest people in the
poorest countries, but no one will be immune to the severe weather
that we can expect. There will be more and more environmental refugees
fleeing homelands that have been flooded or ruined by drought.

I am really pleased that Sheffield is to become a "City of
Sanctuary"-this means that the City Council is publicly committed to
working  to promote a welcoming city for asylum-seekers and refugees. I think the
people of South Yorkshire will now be even more understanding to these
folk that have such traumatic stories-after all, many now understand
from personal experience a little of what it is like to be a refugee.

Graham Wroe
Sheffield Green Party

Action needed on flooding

Having spent Friday bailing out my cellar  I am very
concerned about the flooding. This extreme weather is
exactly what we can expect more of as climate change
gathers  pace. We need to learn lessons very quickly. 
It is clear that  Sheffield's  infrastructure can't 
cope with such extreme weather. We need major  investment 
to improve Sheffield's drains and  river  defences.
Yorkshire Water's parent company Kelda have recently
announced £338m profits and are giving 32p dividends to
it's shareholders. This money should have been invested to
improve the drains, sewers and river defences to ensure the
safety of Yorkshire residents.

South Yorkshire's flood-defence strategy needs to be
re-examined so that more emphasis is placed in creating a
sustainable forestry and agricultural economy that would
prevent the result of heavy rainfall suddenly entering our
rivers and streams. The flooding highlights how essential
our green-spaces, wildlife habitats and woodland are in
cushioning us from flooding and that nature conservation
needs proper long term government investment.

We are demanding more and more of our drains-by  tarmacking
vast areas of our city, building more roads and paving
over front gardens we are increasing the run off and making
matters worse when the bad weather strikes. We need to
reverse the trend, encouraging people to remove the hard
surfaces and replace with grass and gardens. The Decent
Homes programme should be ensuring that existing homes are
watertight and upgraded so that they can face the challenge
of more extreme weather.New buildings should all be equipped
with green roof's that will help soak up the rain as well
as encourage wildlife.Systems to collect rainwater to flush
toilets and water gardens should also be commonplace.

The City not only needs to set stringent targets to reduce
our greenhouse gas emissions, but we also need to change
our spending priorities to prepare for the even worse
weather that is on the way.