:00:18. > :00:25.Hello and welcome to the One Show with Matt Baker. And Alex Jones.
:00:26. > :00:28.Now, with the country still being drenched by rain and battered by
:00:29. > :00:32.high winds and with parts of the country due to get another month's
:00:33. > :00:36.worth of rain in the next two days, we are giving some of the people
:00:37. > :00:41.worst affected the chance to speak to those at the top. Amongst them,
:00:42. > :00:47.Countryfile's expert Tom Heap will be attempting to explain what is
:00:48. > :00:51.causing this rain. It is good to have you with us. And Eric Pickles,
:00:52. > :00:55.who has come straight from a COBRA meeting, is here to tell us how his
:00:56. > :00:59.government are planning to get rid of the floodwater after the wettest
:01:00. > :01:05.winter in 250 years. Thank you for joining us. I wish it was under
:01:06. > :01:09.different circumstances. And back so soon. In Berkshire, Matt Allright
:01:10. > :01:13.has set up an advice clinic with experts on insurance and flood
:01:14. > :01:16.prevention. Iwan is in Worcestershire to find out the
:01:17. > :01:21.multi-million pound flood defences there are going to hold out. And we
:01:22. > :01:25.will find out what would happen if we continued to let the cedar its
:01:26. > :01:29.worst from an international coastal erosion expert. And this time, we
:01:30. > :01:34.are not going to blame it on the weatherman. But we do have John
:01:35. > :01:39.Hammond with us. I don't make the weather, I just forecast it. Now, if
:01:40. > :01:44.you would like to ask any of the people you can see a question
:01:45. > :01:47.tonight, get in touch. On a more positive note, we want to celebrate
:01:48. > :01:52.all of the flood heroes, so do send in a picture if you have got power
:01:53. > :01:57.of the people who have been helping you and we will show them later. It
:01:58. > :02:00.is going to be a busy old hour, but with all this talk of ad weather, we
:02:01. > :02:05.need someone to bring a bit of sunshine to tonight's proceedings.
:02:06. > :02:15.Just as well we have got lovely Shane Richie! How are you doing,
:02:16. > :02:24.everybody? I have it on good authority that there will be a bit
:02:25. > :02:30.of a storm happening over Walford. You are based around the Surrey
:02:31. > :02:41.area. I know, I am a bit worried about this weekend. Sorry about
:02:42. > :02:45.that! Where I live on the Downs, even just driving in today, it was
:02:46. > :02:49.scary. Friends and family live in the Surrey area and they have been a
:02:50. > :02:54.bit flippant about it, but now it seems serious full up and it seems
:02:55. > :03:00.to affect the whole country now and not just down south. We are hearing
:03:01. > :03:03.about Wales and northern England. It is across the board. Well, our man
:03:04. > :03:08.with webbed feet, filter from all, has been in your area to meet some
:03:09. > :03:19.of the people in Surrey who are most in need of help and a welcome smile.
:03:20. > :03:27.This is the worst flood situation Chertsey has seen since March 1947.
:03:28. > :03:35.Wow, this is Surrey. Knee deep. Overly deep. -- over knee deep. The
:03:36. > :03:40.army, fire and follow the rescue services are ready to evacuate
:03:41. > :03:44.people from their homes. While the rescue services are strained with
:03:45. > :03:51.the demand of calls, we went to see how people are coping. Are you
:03:52. > :03:56.staying put? We are trying to raise our furniture up a bit on boxes. We
:03:57. > :04:05.have moved our kitchen stuff up. Has water come into the house yet? Not
:04:06. > :04:14.yet. We have got no sandbags. Are you evacuating? Yeah. Have you been
:04:15. > :04:20.told to? Because we have two young kids. We got evacuated at five this
:04:21. > :04:25.morning. My sister, who lives up there, she came and picked us up. So
:04:26. > :04:30.we are going to stay at her house. And then an hour or so later, we
:04:31. > :04:35.have now evacuated from there. The speed it came up was really quick,
:04:36. > :04:41.as if someone just opened something up and it was just rushing through.
:04:42. > :04:45.The volunteer and rescue services are giving up their time to guide
:04:46. > :04:50.people to safety. If you are a volunteer, what is your day job? I
:04:51. > :04:55.work for Marks Spencer. What is your message? Only ring 999 if it is
:04:56. > :05:05.an emergency. Please find your local rescue centre. Don't put yourself in
:05:06. > :05:09.danger. District in Chertsey is one of the worst I have seen so far
:05:10. > :05:15.today -- the street. That's roundabout has become a little
:05:16. > :05:20.island. If evacuation is a last resort for the residents, desperate
:05:21. > :05:24.to protect their property. Is it the first time you have inflicted? We
:05:25. > :05:37.have been here more than ten years and never had a flood. In 2003, it
:05:38. > :05:51.was not like this. Come here. I know, it is terrible. It is
:05:52. > :05:54.shocking. Water is coming up from under the floorboards. It is one of
:05:55. > :06:06.the countless homes ruined by dirty water. We just had a new setting as
:06:07. > :06:11.well. It will be ruined now. Heartbreaking to see this go,
:06:12. > :06:17.because so much effort has gone into it. Do you think anything could have
:06:18. > :06:25.done? If they had dredged the river. Some people could make better
:06:26. > :06:27.decisions than the so-called intelligent people in government and
:06:28. > :06:37.the agencies. And you are at the sharp end of it. We are on the
:06:38. > :06:43.receiving end. Although people have been evacuated to safety, the waters
:06:44. > :06:48.are still rising. So until the weather improves, there is little
:06:49. > :06:54.hope of returning home soon. Extraordinary. We are going to see
:06:55. > :06:57.extraordinary images all evening. I hope some of those people benefit
:06:58. > :07:02.from tonight's show. John, the reason we have got this map is
:07:03. > :07:05.because we have got flood alerts in yellow and then the flood warnings
:07:06. > :07:11.in red. You are going to tell us what is going on up and down the
:07:12. > :07:14.country. There is severe weather up and down the country. All the
:07:15. > :07:19.concentration at the moment is on the floods and the gales. But
:07:20. > :07:27.further north across Scotland, it is cold. We have got a lot of snow,
:07:28. > :07:31.good news for skiers. And that is because we are furthest away from
:07:32. > :07:34.the jet stream. The jet stream is generating the wind and the rain
:07:35. > :07:38.across the country. The way from that to the north, it is cold. It
:07:39. > :07:46.makes you wonder how you can have all the flooding down there, and
:07:47. > :07:50.this extraordinary snow up here. In Portstewart earlier today, we saw
:07:51. > :07:55.snow. It is still on the northern side of the jet stream, so it is a
:07:56. > :07:57.wintry nights to come. If you live in Northern Ireland, you may be
:07:58. > :08:01.waking up to snow in the morning. The same applies across parts of
:08:02. > :08:08.Scotland and northern England. We are concerned about blizzards across
:08:09. > :08:13.the Pennines. We have very strong wind, 100 mile an hour gusts
:08:14. > :08:18.spattering the coasts of Wales. More storm winds this evening. We have a
:08:19. > :08:23.red warning from the Met Office for parts of West Wales and northern
:08:24. > :08:28.England. Blackpool has 80 mile an hour gusts this evening. That will
:08:29. > :08:34.cause serious damage. Does go to the eastern side of the UK.
:08:35. > :08:45.Earlier in the winter, Hemsby had the strongest search for 60 years.
:08:46. > :08:51.These areas are not immune from this crazy winter weather. Talking of the
:08:52. > :08:56.coastal erosion, we are looking at houses that have just subsided.
:08:57. > :09:01.Let's get into the flooding areas. All these areas are covered by flood
:09:02. > :09:05.alerts severe warnings in some cases. Let's to Shrewsbury. The
:09:06. > :09:13.River Severn is around four metres here. All this water is flowing off
:09:14. > :09:16.the hills of Wales. So although the rain might be stopping for a time,
:09:17. > :09:21.there is such a line between the rain falling over Wales and flowing
:09:22. > :09:26.down to the River Severn. You expect that to rise? It is to peak tomorrow
:09:27. > :09:31.morning and then perhaps come down a bit. But with more rain forecast, it
:09:32. > :09:36.will go up again. The same applies to Worcester. At the moment, river
:09:37. > :09:39.levels are at around five metres, very concerning. Again, it is set to
:09:40. > :09:45.peak tomorrow morning and go down a bit but probably up again by
:09:46. > :09:53.Friday. Iwan is in Worcester for us tonight. And raise bread and the
:09:54. > :09:58.Thames Valley, where we have 14 severe flood warnings across parts
:09:59. > :10:02.of the south-east, meaning danger to life. What's more, the river levels
:10:03. > :10:06.have peaked for the time being. They will go down a bit, but there is
:10:07. > :10:10.more rain in the forecast and only one way those river levels will go,
:10:11. > :10:17.I imagine, with all that rain funnelling down the Thames. Andy
:10:18. > :10:21.Somerset Levels? We saw the pictures earlier in the week of colossal
:10:22. > :10:27.amounts of water spread over a vast area. Six metres of water across the
:10:28. > :10:30.Somerset Levels. If it stopped raining tomorrow and did not rain
:10:31. > :10:34.for weeks, it would still take a long time for that waters to
:10:35. > :10:40.disappear. We have a before and after shot of Taunton, brought in by
:10:41. > :10:44.Gill Mogg, who took this picture. This was the before shot, bone dry,
:10:45. > :10:51.beautiful scene. After, covered in water. It shows how parts of the
:10:52. > :10:55.country have been transformed. People are looking up to the skies
:10:56. > :10:59.and saying, where on earth is this water coming from? Surely the skies
:11:00. > :11:06.must be the by now. Where is that water appearing from? It is hard to
:11:07. > :11:10.believe, but the atmosphere is actually a fluid. Meteorology is
:11:11. > :11:14.fluid dynamics. You have all these air molecules, all of which can
:11:15. > :11:18.carry moisture. And one of the reasons why we have got such a
:11:19. > :11:22.strong jet stream this winter could well lie on the other side of the
:11:23. > :11:26.world in Southeast Asia, where the sea water is particularly warm, so
:11:27. > :11:29.there is a lot of moisture going into the atmosphere. That is
:11:30. > :11:33.believed to be one of the factors which is driving such a strong jet
:11:34. > :11:36.stream on this side of the globe. The stronger the jet stream, the
:11:37. > :11:41.stronger the storms. The stronger the storms, the more wind and rain.
:11:42. > :11:46.You are going to be sticking around and answering questions for us. So,
:11:47. > :11:51.there is the situation across the UK.
:11:52. > :11:57.If you are in one of the areas that has remained unscathed, count your
:11:58. > :12:00.blessings. When you factor in the last few years, you realise how
:12:01. > :12:02.extreme our weather has become and how much stress that is putting on
:12:03. > :12:09.the country. This winter has the thousands of
:12:10. > :12:13.people in Britain been a nightmare. The country has been battered by
:12:14. > :12:18.storms and rain . The fact is that our weather is getting worse. Our
:12:19. > :12:26.hot spells are getting hotter, our cold snaps are getting colder. And
:12:27. > :12:31.of course, it is getting wetter. December 2013 was the wettest on
:12:32. > :12:33.record for Scotland, but not England, whereas January 2014 was
:12:34. > :12:38.the wettest on record for central and southern England and twice the
:12:39. > :12:42.average for that region of the UK. 2012 was an interesting year. The
:12:43. > :12:48.November floods were symptomatic of a very wet November, worries or
:12:49. > :12:51.twice the average November rainfall. Average rainfall has
:12:52. > :12:57.increased by five sent over the last 30 years, and the highest rainfall
:12:58. > :13:02.statistics keep getting broken, year-on-year. And when it is not
:13:03. > :13:08.wet, it is dry, to drive. You might enjoy a bit of sunshine, but
:13:09. > :13:13.sunshine can also mean drought. Between April 2010 and March 2012,
:13:14. > :13:17.we saw the joint driest 24 month period on record. We saw about 75%
:13:18. > :13:22.of the rainfall we should have done in that two-year period, and that
:13:23. > :13:25.led to worries about the summer of 2012 and the fact that there might
:13:26. > :13:29.not be water in the reservoir is. That then gave way to what became
:13:30. > :13:35.the wettest summer on record, so 2012 was a year of extremes. Talking
:13:36. > :13:38.of extremes, did you know that our summers are getting hotter? The
:13:39. > :13:44.hottest days in summer are now two degrees warmer in many places since
:13:45. > :14:25.the 1950s. And in 2011, it hit 29 Celsius.
:14:26. > :14:27.was the coldest month of December. Tying it all together, what it's
:14:28. > :14:33.really interesting is that we are going from one extreme to the next.
:14:34. > :14:38.Four of the five wettest years in the UK have happened since the year
:14:39. > :14:42.2000. We are seeing the trend towards warmer and wetter summers
:14:43. > :14:47.since then, and all the indicators are pointing to the fact that the UK
:14:48. > :14:52.is getting wetter over time. That is the interesting, worrying factor in
:14:53. > :14:59.all of this. So is there worse to come? That is the question that we
:15:00. > :15:03.will try to solve. Eric Pickles has come straight from the COBRA
:15:04. > :15:08.meeting. David Cameron started and you ended up finishing it because he
:15:09. > :15:14.had to leave. What were you talking about? Clearly the wind that is at
:15:15. > :15:19.very high levels. Going through Wales and the Northwest. Maybe by
:15:20. > :15:25.about midnight it will ease off, but of course in that time it will take
:15:26. > :15:28.down power lines and take out trees. We will probably have to stop the
:15:29. > :15:34.trains for a little while to avoid problems. The second thing we were
:15:35. > :15:41.looking at was getting ahead of the flooding, recognising that there is
:15:42. > :15:46.another bout of rain coming towards us, which will mean more flooding in
:15:47. > :15:50.the Thames. We are really organising, getting round, knocking
:15:51. > :15:56.on doors to try and warn people about this. Is that the conclusion,
:15:57. > :16:00.just telling people? Yes, and that is the sensible thing to do. The
:16:01. > :16:05.police, the army and wardens have been doing that. Next week will also
:16:06. > :16:09.be difficult so what we are doing is extending a lot of the protection
:16:10. > :16:16.around strategically important things, like pumping water,
:16:17. > :16:21.electricity, to ensure that people's lives can go on. The last
:16:22. > :16:27.thing we want to do is scaremonger of course. Within that meeting, what
:16:28. > :16:34.is the feeling? Could this be the beginning of the end? No. People can
:16:35. > :16:41.be assured of that. In terms of by and large our flood defences, they
:16:42. > :16:46.have held. We are probably saved by them to the tune of 1.3 million
:16:47. > :16:50.properties. If you are stuck in the Somerset Levels, in Chertsey, in the
:16:51. > :16:54.Thames Valley, that is no comfort for you because of the flooding that
:16:55. > :16:59.is affecting your properties. Particularly difficult in the Thames
:17:00. > :17:02.Valley. You will probably remember from school geography lessons that
:17:03. > :17:07.the Thames Valley has a lot of gravel and once it gets a lot of
:17:08. > :17:14.water in, it goes below any barrier and comes up in different places. In
:17:15. > :17:21.terms of getting help and working with people for the recovery, we are
:17:22. > :17:25.going to be offering people up to ?5,000 when they start the process
:17:26. > :17:32.of redecorating to put something in to give them more protection against
:17:33. > :17:35.water. We have seen a lot of reaction to the flooding, but there
:17:36. > :17:39.are lots of things that need to be done looking ahead to next year to
:17:40. > :17:43.prevent this kind of thing, that goes without saying. What is
:17:44. > :17:47.particularly striking about this flooding, we have had all kinds of
:17:48. > :17:52.different water events. Coastal flooding, river flooding, ground
:17:53. > :17:56.water flooding, and flash floods. The four horsemen of the apocalypse
:17:57. > :18:05.when it comes to flooding. And this is what is quite unusual, the
:18:06. > :18:08.duration of the floods. The length of time the water has been hanging
:18:09. > :18:10.around. Where I do have sympathy with the Government is that this
:18:11. > :18:13.makes it very tricky for them. They can't say that they can see the end
:18:14. > :18:16.of the pain because it appears to be going on and on. The difficult
:18:17. > :18:23.question alongside the relief effort that the Government have to tackle,
:18:24. > :18:30.the questions going forward, how can we tackle it again? People have come
:18:31. > :18:35.into the audience to pose questions for Eric and Tom. Alice, I was
:18:36. > :18:39.horrified when I heard about your situation. Just tell Eric, Tom and
:18:40. > :18:45.Shane where you are living and what your situation is. We have had flood
:18:46. > :18:51.water damage since the beginning of January. We have electricity but no
:18:52. > :18:59.heating. We can't flush the toilets anymore really. We are sharing at
:19:00. > :19:03.our friends' houses. -- showering. We have had this before and we know
:19:04. > :19:06.it will happen every year to a certain level. We are beginning to
:19:07. > :19:17.redesign the house ourselves. That is your house. That is the kid's
:19:18. > :19:23.play room. And you have a four -year-old and also a two -year-old.
:19:24. > :19:26.What is your question to Eric? We are doing what we can to redesign
:19:27. > :19:32.the house to cope with flooding in the future. We want to know what
:19:33. > :19:38.help we will get for the clean-up, and what help will be get to
:19:39. > :19:43.rebuild? And to stop having the water in in the future? You have
:19:44. > :19:47.been through it before, by the sounds of things, and you will know
:19:48. > :19:52.that it takes a long time to dry out the house. Just when the floods go,
:19:53. > :19:56.that is when the jobs begin. We will be offering you some help to try and
:19:57. > :20:02.make your house that little bit more secure. They did talk to me a little
:20:03. > :20:06.bit about you but because I did not know your surname I was trying to
:20:07. > :20:12.find things out. You have electricity back on now. We have
:20:13. > :20:17.electrics but the boiler is underwater. These nice people are
:20:18. > :20:21.going to give me your surname and address and we will talk to the
:20:22. > :20:27.power companies on your behalf. What a terrible experience. How many kids
:20:28. > :20:32.have you got? Two. They are brave and they are coping really well. I
:20:33. > :20:37.am pleased to hear that. That ?5,000, it is in response to
:20:38. > :20:42.cleaning things up but is it also about making houses flood proof? It
:20:43. > :20:50.is exclusively about making houses more flood proof. We will be funding
:20:51. > :20:55.more councils. Is it open to everybody? They will be looking to
:20:56. > :21:04.the councils to help people out with the process, with hardship and the
:21:05. > :21:07.like. We will find that 100%. Another question from joke from
:21:08. > :21:16.Chertsey. Thank you for coming in. It is your livelihood that has been
:21:17. > :21:20.affected. -- Joe from Chertsey. I have stables and the horses cannot
:21:21. > :21:24.be exercised and they cannot eat any grass. We cannot access the stables.
:21:25. > :21:27.Police and local people are trying to run the streets but there is
:21:28. > :21:30.borderline anarchy with people disagreeing about whether they
:21:31. > :21:34.should be allowed down there. Why don't we have more local police
:21:35. > :21:38.policing the streets because they have been drafted in from other
:21:39. > :21:46.areas and they are not familiar with us and what is going on? There will
:21:47. > :21:50.also be troops from the community -- who have a community function. If
:21:51. > :21:54.you give me your address afterwards, I will speak to what is called Gold
:21:55. > :22:01.command, the person in charge of your area, to check that we are
:22:02. > :22:05.offering help. Where are the horses? Locked up in their stables. They are
:22:06. > :22:08.racehorses, for racing, and we cannot even let them out. They are
:22:09. > :22:14.highly strung at the best of times. I don't know what is happening. We
:22:15. > :22:20.are waiting to see that nobody seems to have any information. You don't
:22:21. > :22:25.feel supported? Definitely not. In terms of the local governments, and
:22:26. > :22:33.Environment Agency, they have to inform people what is going on
:22:34. > :22:43.because you need some kind of information. Is that your farm?
:22:44. > :22:46.Those are my stables. Go on? It is easy to show sympathy with
:22:47. > :22:50.individuals in this room but where do you draw the line? Hundreds of
:22:51. > :22:56.people had their homes flooded before Christmas up in the North.
:22:57. > :23:03.20,000 homes were affected. They will be asking where their money is.
:23:04. > :23:09.We are now drawing a line to make sure they are included. So it is
:23:10. > :23:14.only this winter and not previous years? I think we can only deal with
:23:15. > :23:19.the flood that we have got and it is not unreasonable to try to make sure
:23:20. > :23:23.those folks are well looked after. But are you setting a precedent in
:23:24. > :23:30.terms of future flooding? So we should. Is that a guarantee? Money
:23:31. > :23:35.from the Government after flooding? We are trying to make people dry and
:23:36. > :23:41.safe. We will be spending money on flood defences but also we will be
:23:42. > :23:44.helping out businesses. We will be helping out farmers. And also with
:23:45. > :23:47.someone like that, you may say it is just one person, but once they have
:23:48. > :23:53.gone through the process of the flood, it is like being burgled.
:23:54. > :23:57.When floodwaters go, you clean-up, but every time it rains you start to
:23:58. > :24:03.worry and they need some assurance and we should not be frightened of
:24:04. > :24:06.creating a precedent. There we go. Let's go live to Wraysbury in
:24:07. > :24:13.Berkshire where the flood advice clinic is filling up.
:24:14. > :24:19.Yes, we are in the Baptist church Hall in Wraysbury. You can tell it
:24:20. > :24:22.gives Wraysbury because almost everybody is wearing waders. They
:24:23. > :24:27.have had a month of absolute misery thanks to the flooding. The next
:24:28. > :24:31.couple of days could make their lives even worse. Are you all
:24:32. > :24:36.right, everybody? They are made of strong stuff, it turns out here, in
:24:37. > :24:42.Wraysbury. Let's remind ourselves what is taking place. Then, you have
:24:43. > :24:56.been working on flood relief and you are a resident. -- Ben. We sought
:24:57. > :25:03.the flooding affecting the Westside of Wraysbury. We had a consultation
:25:04. > :25:07.meeting to prepare ourselves for the worst. We got information back from
:25:08. > :25:13.the Environment Agency and there was a lot of water coming our way in the
:25:14. > :25:16.next two or three days. It was after the initial flooding, the period
:25:17. > :25:21.when people would have been getting their houses back in order, bringing
:25:22. > :25:27.up builders, and then the waters came back? People were refurbishing
:25:28. > :25:32.their houses and then it came back, a second blow. Do you feel like you
:25:33. > :25:37.have been given help and that it was spotted early enough? Not at all.
:25:38. > :25:42.The only help came when Sue Burroughs made her plea on Monday
:25:43. > :25:45.morning and then it came in. So you link that to the media attention
:25:46. > :25:51.that Wraysbury has got and other places might not be getting?
:25:52. > :25:57.Absolutely. I know that you have more sandbags filling to do. Thank
:25:58. > :26:03.you for coming down. At The One Show we can provide an expert whose email
:26:04. > :26:07.addresses you would not normally get. Matt Cullen from the
:26:08. > :26:14.Association of British Insurers is talking about the claims after the
:26:15. > :26:18.rains. And a director of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
:26:19. > :26:22.He is talking bricks and mortar, how to protect your houses and how to
:26:23. > :26:28.fix them afterwards if it is too late. And Mary, a flood survival
:26:29. > :26:33.expert. Flooded 12 times herself, using that experience to help other
:26:34. > :26:38.people now. But the most important person, Andrew. How are you doing?
:26:39. > :26:42.In the studio we have got Eric Pickles. I know you have got a
:26:43. > :26:47.question for him. This is a golden opportunity to ask him something. I
:26:48. > :26:51.want to know about the response time basically and what can we do to make
:26:52. > :26:56.sure it does not happen again? More importantly, we need to know what we
:26:57. > :27:02.as a community can do so this does not happen again. You want to know
:27:03. > :27:17.what you can do so you are taking responsibility yourself? Tell us
:27:18. > :27:19.what we can do to protect ourselves? We want to know because it can't
:27:20. > :27:23.happen again like this. There you go, that is the question. Most of
:27:24. > :27:27.the flooding there is coming from ground water, so we cannot put in
:27:28. > :27:32.sandbags to prevent it. What we have to look at individually is making
:27:33. > :27:36.people's homes as sustainable as we can. Quite a lot of that water that
:27:37. > :27:42.we are seeing is coming up through people's floorboards. Generally the
:27:43. > :27:47.water table there is completely saturated. So in answer to that
:27:48. > :27:54.question, what can they do? A lot of troops right now are building up
:27:55. > :28:01.sandbags. We are doing our best to try and mitigate the flooding. But
:28:02. > :28:09.ultimately we are going to have to look at the security of particular
:28:10. > :28:12.houses. Go on. Let's look into the future now and look ahead. We have
:28:13. > :28:17.had this scenario over three months. If we get the same whether next
:28:18. > :28:20.year, what will be done from after the clean-up to the beginning of
:28:21. > :28:27.next year to try and help this situation? Just to understand how
:28:28. > :28:32.difficult it has been, most of the flood defences have held, which is
:28:33. > :28:39.great. We do have an agreed programme in which we are going to
:28:40. > :28:43.improve them. In the short term, we are looking at helping farmers,
:28:44. > :28:51.businesses, individuals that have suffered from the flooding. But
:28:52. > :28:58.experts tell us this kind of level of flooding is exception of --
:28:59. > :29:03.exceptional but we do have to plan for it for the future. This will
:29:04. > :29:07.cost an incredible amount of money. Some viewers have been asking
:29:08. > :29:15.questions. Would you consider giving up HS2 to give that money to flood
:29:16. > :29:20.defences? It is not a binary choice. We can put in flood defences and
:29:21. > :29:25.have HS2. There is such a lack of capacity on that line. If we didn't
:29:26. > :29:32.do that, we would be condemning people travelling in the North West
:29:33. > :29:37.two decades of misery. Tom, how much would we have to spend? We currently
:29:38. > :29:42.spend 615 million and the government has added 132 that in response to
:29:43. > :29:46.the current floods. A report says we have to raise that to at least one
:29:47. > :29:49.early in a year to maintain the current level of defence. The
:29:50. > :29:54.current level does not appear to be adequate, so it looks like it should
:29:55. > :29:58.be more than that. We are going to step up the pace. The prime minister
:29:59. > :30:05.is determined that we are going to do what we can. We have got to
:30:06. > :30:11.concentrate on the recovery, but in the long-term, we have a plan of
:30:12. > :30:15.increasing the amount of money we are spending on flood defences. But
:30:16. > :30:19.we will not be able to make it per assessment from the Somerset Levels
:30:20. > :30:26.across the Thames Valley until the water has subsided a bit more.
:30:27. > :30:31.Hopefully, as we move towards the end of February, we will get a
:30:32. > :30:37.normal winter weather. It will be wet but not as bad as this. Eric, we
:30:38. > :30:44.know you have to go, so we . You there, but thank you for joining us.
:30:45. > :30:52.-- we will leave things there. Time to test our reflex is now and take a
:30:53. > :31:00.break from the bad weather. Let's see if you can recognise this voice.
:31:01. > :31:08.Here comes that Mallett. He will need to make a fast recovery.
:31:09. > :31:11.Michael's turn now, that mallet hurtling towards its target like a
:31:12. > :31:19.heat-seeking missile. Come on, Michael! I don't believe it! He has
:31:20. > :31:30.missed two. And Jason has seized his moment. Smashing! He has done it. If
:31:31. > :31:35.you love your slow-mos, this is the show for you. If you are TV geek and
:31:36. > :31:40.if you love slow-mo, Saturday night. It has been on for three
:31:41. > :31:45.weeks and then it had a break for the rug day. -- rugby. If people
:31:46. > :31:57.have not caught it, give us a synopsis. It is just bonkers. It is
:31:58. > :32:00.a game show about people's quick responses and their mental and
:32:01. > :32:05.physical agility and how quick their reflexes are. More importantly, the
:32:06. > :32:09.cameras that catch their reflexes on screen, it is incredible. I am often
:32:10. > :32:13.seeing it on TV for the first time, because I don't get to see it when I
:32:14. > :32:17.am presenting it. And Ken Bruce doing the voice-over is very funny.
:32:18. > :32:22.When the games are played in real-time, you can hardly see it. It
:32:23. > :32:26.is just second. But the joy of it is that if you are competitive, you
:32:27. > :32:30.want to do well, but you are not necessarily competing against the
:32:31. > :32:34.other person. You are desperate to make sure your reflex are first.
:32:35. > :32:37.Some of the games are very simple, whether it is try to catch a
:32:38. > :32:47.ping-pong ball or throwing a pot of paint! I bet that is fun. There is
:32:48. > :32:53.another one where we sit on giant balloons and they explode. Watching
:32:54. > :32:57.them on the day is funny in itself, but watching it back in slow-mo
:32:58. > :33:02.makes it a totally different show. The teams play in families. How
:33:03. > :33:09.would your family do? Are you competitive? No. My wife is very
:33:10. > :33:13.competitive. Seriously, to the point where I have to get her in a head
:33:14. > :33:18.lock to hold her down occasionally. She loves watching the show, and she
:33:19. > :33:21.is forever shouting at the TV. My children are competitive as well.
:33:22. > :33:29.One of the episodes coming up, we have got Austin Healey against Iwan.
:33:30. > :33:36.Watching two sportsmen, these guys are so competitive by nature. We
:33:37. > :33:42.should do a One Show version. Or EastEnders versus Corrie. Speaking
:33:43. > :33:46.of EastEnders, which do you prefer? Is it acting or do you like doing
:33:47. > :33:52.this type of stuff? I am first and foremost an actor, that is my
:33:53. > :33:55.passion. But back in the day in the 80s, when I was out of work as an
:33:56. > :34:00.actor, I got sidetracked into hosting game shows and doing the big
:34:01. > :34:04.TV Saturday night shows, whether it was the key numbers or win, lose or
:34:05. > :34:08.draw or the Shane Richie experience. But that was because I was out of
:34:09. > :34:13.work as an actor. Thankfully, I am not out of work as an actor at the
:34:14. > :34:17.moment. But EastEnders were kind enough to let me do this. You are
:34:18. > :34:22.early and for an audience. We came to see you doing panto, and have
:34:23. > :34:28.such a ball. We often played clips of people's early parts of their
:34:29. > :34:39.career and it is quite amusing. This one takes the biscuit!
:34:40. > :34:42.Here we go! Here we go!
:34:43. > :34:47.got to keep on dancing. got to keep on dancing.
:34:48. > :34:53.playing. playing.
:34:54. > :35:03.the passion. the passion.
:35:04. > :35:13.# Just walking through the door. Oh, that hurts! I loved your hair.
:35:14. > :35:23.My mullet. I was what, 21? That was a Saturday night special. And it was
:35:24. > :35:27.rubbish! No, it wasn't! I was a big fan at the time of David Bowie. I
:35:28. > :35:35.think Wham or just starting. The only place you could do stand-up
:35:36. > :35:38.comedy was on shows like that. I never wanted to be a singer, but
:35:39. > :35:43.they said, always come on with a song. Get on with the song! So short
:35:44. > :35:49.of having a load of dancers doing pom-poms around me, that was it.
:35:50. > :35:55.There were only three channels then. To see Shane's new game show,
:35:56. > :35:58.Reflex, it is on BBC One on Saturdays at 5:15pm. In the first
:35:59. > :36:03.half of the show, we saw how badly affected you have been by the
:36:04. > :36:10.floods. Still to come, we look more into the future and ask how and if
:36:11. > :36:13.we can flood-proof Britain. Here is Lucy, looking at the size of the
:36:14. > :36:17.task ahead. Flood defences in the UK have never
:36:18. > :36:24.been so important, and our most well-known flood defender is the
:36:25. > :36:28.Thames Barrier. What does the barrier actually do? What is it
:36:29. > :36:33.doing now? At the moment, the barrier is open, so it is letting
:36:34. > :36:38.the water from the Thames run out to the sea. At the next high tide this
:36:39. > :36:44.evening, the flood barrier will, and stop the sea water coming up the
:36:45. > :36:47.Thames. Without the Thames Barrier, floodwater travelling downstream
:36:48. > :36:53.would meet the tidal surge going the opposite way and could cause much
:36:54. > :36:58.greater flooding. If that happened, the sea water and the floodwater
:36:59. > :37:01.would meet and cause a temporary peak, and that would increase the
:37:02. > :37:04.flood risk in places like Teddington. Since it opened in
:37:05. > :37:09.biting 82, the barrier has had to close around 150 times. But one
:37:10. > :37:14.fifth of those has happened in the last few months, which illustrates
:37:15. > :37:17.how bad the conditions we are currently experiencing are. Does
:37:18. > :37:25.this mean London is completely safe from flooding? You can never say
:37:26. > :37:29.never. But this offer is about a one in 1000 year protection for the
:37:30. > :37:35.people of London. Everybody will be demanding this level of protection,
:37:36. > :37:39.won't they? We in the Environment Agency work extremely hard to ensure
:37:40. > :37:45.that every pound we spend delivers the maximum benefit in terms of
:37:46. > :37:50.people protected, people's lives and properties protected and people's
:37:51. > :37:56.businesses protected. But the events of the last few weeks have reminded
:37:57. > :38:00.us how destructive water can be. So is the answer to spend more money on
:38:01. > :38:05.defences, or do we just have to accept that whatever we do, flooding
:38:06. > :38:09.is going to happen? Professor Richard Ashley is a civil engineer
:38:10. > :38:16.who believes the UK has the know-how to cope with the floods. The UK is
:38:17. > :38:21.actually leading globally on floods. We know how to do it. What is
:38:22. > :38:24.holding us up is a lack of a goodwill. The Environment Agency
:38:25. > :38:29.have a backlog of schemes, all shown to have high benefit cost ratios,
:38:30. > :38:36.which are not being funded. If we had an infinite supply of money,
:38:37. > :38:41.could we hold back the water? We could go the way the Dutch have
:38:42. > :38:46.gone. They are investing 1 billion euros a year in 10,000 year
:38:47. > :38:53.protection schemes. Some of the most valuable land in towns and urban
:38:54. > :38:58.areas is actually on flood plains. It is perfectly possible to build on
:38:59. > :39:05.a flood plain. In Hamburg, there is a whole district which is being
:39:06. > :39:11.built to flood regularly. Yet it is a major commercial district. We can
:39:12. > :39:14.do it. It is not cheap. In terms of investment, where are we now and
:39:15. > :39:17.where do we need to be? We suggested that you would need to spend ?1
:39:18. > :39:22.billion a year to keep pace with climate change. We are nowhere near
:39:23. > :39:28.that level. We are below half ?1 billion a year. And falling. We need
:39:29. > :39:32.to implement adaptation to climate change measures across the board,
:39:33. > :39:38.not just in the flooding area. But politicians find this too difficult
:39:39. > :39:42.to do. It is to long-term thinking, not the year and now. The issues are
:39:43. > :39:53.not technical, they are political and economic. We will speak to Lucy
:39:54. > :39:58.later. So it needs to be raised to 1 billion. Eric Pickles was a bit
:39:59. > :40:01.cagey on that. We will see. Anyway, Iwan is in Bewdley in
:40:02. > :40:08.Worcestershire, a town which has the defences that other parts of the
:40:09. > :40:12.country are clamouring for. Yes, what a week of whether we have had.
:40:13. > :40:17.At the weekend, I was in Cornwall, chasing storms. It feels like the
:40:18. > :40:21.water is chasing me. This is the River Severn, the largest river in
:40:22. > :40:31.the UK, but in 2007, it burst its banks, it was disastrous. The M5was
:40:32. > :40:37.closed. The danger is tonight that just down the road, 18 miles away in
:40:38. > :40:44.Worcester, the water levels are up to five .65 metres. The Environment
:40:45. > :40:49.Agency are warning that it could peak tomorrow at about five .18
:40:50. > :40:53.metres. This is a beautiful town and everyone has come out. Everyone
:40:54. > :40:58.thinks they will stay dry, but will they? John Champion, local
:40:59. > :41:04.councillor. This barrier looks simple to me, but it is going to
:41:05. > :41:08.save the town? Absolutely. It is a complex system that looks simple,
:41:09. > :41:11.but does the job effectively. You can see the barrier is the whole
:41:12. > :41:16.length of the quayside tonight, keeping hundreds of houses drive.
:41:17. > :41:20.You must be slightly concerned, though. It is worse than in 2007,
:41:21. > :41:26.and I think it will be higher tomorrow. Obviously, we are planning
:41:27. > :41:30.for all scenarios, but we are confident so far that the barriers
:41:31. > :41:36.should keep the town dry. We will keep checking local media. I was
:41:37. > :41:40.chatting to a lady who said she has been here for 45 years. She said
:41:41. > :41:45.before the barriers, swans used to be swimming up the road. So they are
:41:46. > :41:50.doing their job at the moment, but is it money well spent? Absolutely.
:41:51. > :41:55.Tonight on Bob properties that should have water in them are bone
:41:56. > :41:59.dry because of the barriers. It is money well invested. We are seeing
:42:00. > :42:01.the town open for business tonight. People are using the shops and
:42:02. > :42:06.restaurants that would otherwise have been closed. It is vital for a
:42:07. > :42:11.town like this that the barriers are doing their job. So you feel lucky
:42:12. > :42:16.you have got this system in place, because other places are not so
:42:17. > :42:21.lucky. Absolutely. They are working as they should. Everyone I have met
:42:22. > :42:27.tonight has been delightful. It is a beautiful place. I hope you stay
:42:28. > :42:32.dry. Back to a very warm London. Usually seem to have it sussed. This
:42:33. > :42:37.time next year, we might see more of those. Time now to go to Marty's
:42:38. > :42:41.city of Leeds were new technologies planned to protect the city. For
:42:42. > :42:45.some areas of Britain, January 2014 has been the wettest since records
:42:46. > :42:48.began. Parts of the UK are suffering
:42:49. > :42:54.unbelievable damage, and there is a clear need for a national debate on
:42:55. > :42:58.flood warning and preparation. So, technology is being put into place
:42:59. > :43:04.to help addicts when and where floods may happen. Hopefully,
:43:05. > :43:09.prevent some in the future. In my home city of Leeds, there have been
:43:10. > :43:15.several major flood alerts in recent years. Adrian Gill is in charge of
:43:16. > :43:21.flood management. Here we have got a photograph taken from where we are
:43:22. > :43:25.standing in 2007 when we were within centimetres of water causing
:43:26. > :43:29.widespread disruption to the city centre and damage to property. This
:43:30. > :43:35.would have been catastrophic for the centre of Leeds, so the city is
:43:36. > :43:40.investing in major flood fences. The Environment Agency have designed a
:43:41. > :43:44.high-tech boat to find out what is happening in the River and exactly
:43:45. > :43:50.where the potential overflow points might be. Adrian, it is a lovely
:43:51. > :43:57.remote-controlled boat, but why is this a clever piece of technology?
:43:58. > :44:02.Firstly, we have a GPS unit on the top which tells us where the boat is
:44:03. > :44:04.on the river. It also has an acoustic device which sends sonar
:44:05. > :44:08.pulses down to the river bed, which measures the depth of the water and
:44:09. > :44:12.the velocity the water is travelling at. In the last few months, they
:44:13. > :44:17.have developed new software that allows them to make a 3-D map of the
:44:18. > :44:22.river channel. Here we have dark blue areas, which are the deep areas
:44:23. > :44:31.of the river. And the red areas are the shallow areas. It is knowing
:44:32. > :44:33.where the shallow areas are that help the team pinpoint bottlenecks,
:44:34. > :44:39.causing flooding when there is a huge surge of rainfall. With this
:44:40. > :44:44.information, they can come up with specific flood prevention plans. We
:44:45. > :44:49.are doing a number of things in the centre of Leeds. Raising walls,
:44:50. > :44:58.building new walls. It will be the first sitting in Britain to use
:44:59. > :45:03.adjustable weirs. We will be replacing two existing ones with two
:45:04. > :45:06.movable ones that can be lowered as the rivers rise. They can be dropped
:45:07. > :45:12.by one metre which will radically reduce the risk of flooding. Key to
:45:13. > :45:16.all this defence is having sufficient warning as to when the
:45:17. > :45:20.rain is coming. The Met Office used to rely on dedicated human weather
:45:21. > :45:25.spotters, but North Yorkshire is home to the finest station in a
:45:26. > :45:27.network of rainfall radar is home to the finest station in a network of
:45:28. > :45:34.rainfall radars, providing more precise rain data. Inside the dome
:45:35. > :45:38.we have a weather radar which is spinning around, sending out
:45:39. > :45:44.microwave radiation all the way around 360 degrees. The idea is that
:45:45. > :45:50.it picks up rain drops when they fall out of the clouds. The
:45:51. > :45:59.technology is so precise that it can detect tiny drops 100 miles away.
:46:00. > :46:03.Less than a millimetre. The particle size is so small that it does not
:46:04. > :46:08.make a splash when it hits the puddles. It can predict exactly
:46:09. > :46:13.where the rain is coming from and when. That yellow colouring is heavy
:46:14. > :46:20.rain and it is coming our way. How long will it take before it gets to
:46:21. > :46:26.us? At that speed, in the next hour. And how much? Maybe two millimetres.
:46:27. > :46:39.With a prediction like that, we have to put it to the test. With fierce
:46:40. > :46:40.winds blowing, the accuracy of the rainfall measurement will be
:46:41. > :46:43.compromised but the timing should not be affected. Within an hour, the
:46:44. > :46:46.rain rolls in. OK, about one millimetre. You said about two. It
:46:47. > :46:50.demonstrates that we can time the arrival of the rainfall and be
:46:51. > :46:56.pretty sure how heavy it will be. It is coming down much harder now.
:46:57. > :47:00.Let's go back! With the extra rain, Kevin's prediction proves to be spot
:47:01. > :47:03.on, but as current events have proved, it will take more than
:47:04. > :47:10.ground-breaking technology to make the flood seems today a thing of the
:47:11. > :47:13.past. Lucy has joined us now with Jaap
:47:14. > :47:19.Flikweert who advises on flood defences and coastal erosion
:47:20. > :47:24.management. How much, in terms of what we spend in the UK on flood
:47:25. > :47:28.defences, how does that compare to the Netherlands? It is about half
:47:29. > :47:33.compared to what we spend in the Netherlands. It is a very different
:47:34. > :47:36.situation of course. Hear about one sixth of the country is at risk and
:47:37. > :47:41.in the Netherlands, it is two thirds, the four main cities, so it
:47:42. > :47:53.is vital to the nation to sort it out. We did not expect this much
:47:54. > :47:56.rain, that is fair to say, but when you see the situation over here, do
:47:57. > :48:01.you think, goodness me, they are in real trouble? It is not that simple.
:48:02. > :48:07.The priorities are different. Once I had been here for a few years, I
:48:08. > :48:10.realised it was more a question of political priorities rather than the
:48:11. > :48:18.single national priority of stopping flooding. It is a national decision
:48:19. > :48:22.of how much to spend on it. You are nodding in agreement. The difference
:48:23. > :48:27.between Holland and here, apart from the geography, or perhaps because of
:48:28. > :48:31.the geography, keeping out the water is what being Dutch is, if you will
:48:32. > :48:35.forgive me. It is easy for politicians to make it a priority if
:48:36. > :48:39.two thirds of your land is below sea level. By god it has to be a
:48:40. > :48:45.priority. We spent half, but we have a bigger country to defend and more
:48:46. > :48:53.population. The amount that we do spend is a lot less per area or per
:48:54. > :48:59.person. There are actually about the same number of people at risk. With
:49:00. > :49:03.more rain predicted, people will be worried about being flooded. Lots of
:49:04. > :49:08.people have learned the hard way but what advice can you give? The first
:49:09. > :49:12.thing to say is that you have to take a lot of care. But water is
:49:13. > :49:18.horrible. Sewage, animal waste, contamination. It make sure you are
:49:19. > :49:22.wearing protective clothing, watch your step, look for manholes, sharp
:49:23. > :49:26.objects. Don't have anything to do with electrics in flood water. It
:49:27. > :49:30.sounds obvious but it is important to stress these things. People are
:49:31. > :49:34.in positions that they have not been in before. If you are insured, you
:49:35. > :49:40.need to contact your insurance company and make an appointment with
:49:41. > :49:44.your loss adjuster. That is absolutely fundamental. What else
:49:45. > :49:57.should you make sure you do in terms of insurance to make sure you can
:49:58. > :49:59.claim for as much as possible? It is so difficult but keep hold of all
:50:00. > :50:01.correspondents. I know letters might have washed away, but keep hold of
:50:02. > :50:03.everything, including receipts. Do something practical. Take a
:50:04. > :50:06.permanent marker and mark on the wall of a room that has been flooded
:50:07. > :50:14.where the highest watermark is, in all of the rings, not just one. This
:50:15. > :50:23.is just making sure your claim is valid. David asks why we don't build
:50:24. > :50:33.houses to a three tyre with a gap underneath -- two or three feet
:50:34. > :50:40.higher? Instead of getting the water away, we could build houses in a way
:50:41. > :50:44.that they don't get destroyed. That is what we see historically in
:50:45. > :50:49.Queensland and New Orleans, houses on stilts. They are still doing
:50:50. > :50:54.that. They are good ideas. Thank you. Please stick around. Tonight we
:50:55. > :50:58.are asking you to nominate people who have acted beyond the call of
:50:59. > :51:02.duty in bad weather and have put other people's needs before their
:51:03. > :51:06.own. 100 years ago in Winchester, another town where people are
:51:07. > :51:10.crossing their fingers as water levels rise tonight, one man's
:51:11. > :51:18.efforts were so heroic that he saved the city's Cathedral. Ever been
:51:19. > :51:23.swimming in a cathedral? Here in Winchester, it is a real
:51:24. > :51:28.possibility. This is the crypt, the lowest part of the cathedral. Today
:51:29. > :51:33.it is flooded. The crypt floods because the cathedral is built on
:51:34. > :51:37.land with a high water table. At the turn of the 20th century, the
:51:38. > :51:45.building developed large cracks and was in real danger of collapse. It
:51:46. > :51:50.needed underpinning with new foundations. The work began in
:51:51. > :51:55.1906. It would take six years and a Herculean effort by one man. And he
:51:56. > :52:00.was a deep sea diver. And this is the man himself. He is called
:52:01. > :52:04.William Walker and he saved this crumbling cathedral almost
:52:05. > :52:09.single-handedly with one of the most remarkable feats of diving ever
:52:10. > :52:14.achieved. The cathedral is built on a layer of peat. Over the ages, it
:52:15. > :52:19.had compressed. It was what lay beneath it that caused the problem.
:52:20. > :52:25.Every time they got down and dug through it, up the water would
:52:26. > :52:29.bubble. Why didn't they pump it out? The water is bubbling up, dragging
:52:30. > :52:32.with its solid material, so there is a very great fear that the
:52:33. > :52:38.subsidence will be increased by the pumping activity. The engineer in
:52:39. > :52:44.charge, Frances Fox, had an ingenious idea. William Walker, a
:52:45. > :52:50.diver for the Navy at Portsmouth dockyard, was recruited to work
:52:51. > :52:55.under water, manhandling bags of cement in specially dug trenches.
:52:56. > :52:59.Working entirely by feel, he would lay the cement bags at the bottom of
:53:00. > :53:06.the Trent, get out his diving knife and cut them open. -- the trench. He
:53:07. > :53:11.was working in a soup of cement, extremely nasty if you are working
:53:12. > :53:15.with your bare hands. Civilly created this field so they could
:53:16. > :53:28.safely pump out the water and then build the new foundations? -- so he
:53:29. > :53:33.created a seal? Yes, he worked six days a week and hardly had a
:53:34. > :53:40.holiday. One of the great stories of engineering. There were 26,000 bags
:53:41. > :53:42.of cement. The work allowed them to underpin the foundations of the
:53:43. > :53:49.cathedral and keep it standing until today. The Historical Diving Society
:53:50. > :53:56.has an exact replica of the suit. Wearing it gives me some insight
:53:57. > :54:01.into his achievement. And this is exactly what he would have one? It
:54:02. > :54:12.has not changed. The design goes back to the 1840s. It weighs 190
:54:13. > :54:17.pounds. That is more than me! Walker would have had a dedicated dresser
:54:18. > :54:23.to help put it on. And a pair of men to pump air into his helmet. This
:54:24. > :54:27.weighs a tonne. The helmet normally presses down on the chest, but it
:54:28. > :54:34.pushes your whole body forward so your back and neck are aching. It is
:54:35. > :54:38.about to get heavier. The weight, including lead boots and heavy brass
:54:39. > :54:43.plates, was required to keep him anchored underwater.
:54:44. > :55:01.These are just the tasks that Walker would have done, picking up sandbags
:55:02. > :55:07.and moving them, slowly, day after day, year after year, to build the
:55:08. > :55:13.foundations that saved the cathedral. This is brilliant. I am
:55:14. > :55:16.really enjoying myself. Wearing a replica of the suit has given me a
:55:17. > :55:21.small taste of the huge efforts he made in the mud filled trenches
:55:22. > :55:26.under Winchester Cathedral. Underwater, it is so much more
:55:27. > :55:30.comfortable. It is very different doing it in a warm swimming pool for
:55:31. > :55:39.ten minutes and it is doing it in cold, deep, dark waters every day,
:55:40. > :55:44.twice a day for years and years. What a hero. Thank you. Now it is
:55:45. > :55:50.time to go back to Wraysbury. How are things?
:55:51. > :55:56.I have something to show you. This is someone's kitchen door, UPVC. You
:55:57. > :56:02.can see the water is halfway up and squirting through the keyhole. That
:56:03. > :56:06.is what life is like for a lot of residents in Wraysbury and some of
:56:07. > :56:14.them have come to talk to our Flood Forum and get some advice. We are
:56:15. > :56:18.going to talk to Matt. Can you give an idea of the questions people are
:56:19. > :56:23.asking? I am giving advice on what to do if you have flooded. People
:56:24. > :56:30.pay insurance premiums for this kind of event. Are they trusting
:56:31. > :56:34.insurers? I am getting good feedback overall. People have learned lessons
:56:35. > :56:41.since 2007 when the response may not have been as good as it is now. Gary
:56:42. > :56:46.is from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. What is it that
:56:47. > :56:51.people have been asking you? Mostly structural problems, what to do when
:56:52. > :56:56.they have been flooded, resilience measures to resist flooding in the
:56:57. > :57:00.future. We have free consumer advice available on our website and also
:57:01. > :57:02.specialist surveyors like myself can come and look at the property and
:57:03. > :57:06.specialist surveyors like myself can come and look at the property and
:57:07. > :57:11.give future advice. Lovely. Good work. Mary, you have been through it
:57:12. > :57:14.and you have got the T-shirt. You know what these people are going
:57:15. > :57:19.through plus a bit more. What are they asking you? Really it is how to
:57:20. > :57:25.move forward from this and my advice is don't point the finger of blame.
:57:26. > :57:28.It is nobody's fault. We have to deal with this, move forward and
:57:29. > :57:32.work in partnership to make sure it does not happen again, and work
:57:33. > :57:38.together in harmony. Really important. Terrific, thank you. A
:57:39. > :57:43.very positive note to finish on. The people of Wraysbury really need that
:57:44. > :57:47.right now, quite frankly. More weather coming and it could get
:57:48. > :57:51.worse before it gets better. I can't believe the picture of those
:57:52. > :58:01.people's back door with what all the way up. Just awful. -- water all the
:58:02. > :58:06.way up. I have been a weather forecaster for 24 years and I have
:58:07. > :58:11.never seen a spell like this. There are lots of heroes out there. Brad
:58:12. > :58:19.from Eton was helping evacuate members of the public in Wraysbury.
:58:20. > :58:29.The North Somerset Young Farmers Club. They are collecting hay bales.
:58:30. > :58:36.An Essex Young Farmers, it is incredible what they are doing as
:58:37. > :58:41.well. And this is Sarah's daughter trying to organise food for the hard
:58:42. > :58:45.workers. And Flood heroes in Taunton, the drop-off centre,
:58:46. > :58:51.behind-the-scenes, sent in by Vicky Smith. A very big thank you to
:58:52. > :58:55.everyone who got in contact tonight. Very sorry if we could not
:58:56. > :58:59.answer your questions, we did not expect Eric Pickles to leave so
:59:00. > :59:03.soon. Thank you for joining us and it has been difficult to answer all
:59:04. > :59:07.the questions. Difficult for you across the country as well and our
:59:08. > :59:13.thoughts are with you. More on Newsnight tonight with Jeremy
:59:14. > :59:21.Paxman, presenting a live show from Hull. That is news to me! I have
:59:22. > :59:25.just read it. Thank you to Shane and tomorrow Timothy small will be here
:59:26. > :59:31.from seven o'clock as usual. -- Timothy Spall. Good night.
:59:32. > :59:34.Hello, I'm Ellie Crisell with your 90 second update.
:59:35. > :59:38.Britain takes another battering. Hurricane force winds are hammering
:59:39. > :59:41.Wales and Northwest England. It has disrupted road and rail links and
:59:42. > :59:46.brought down power lines. A month's rain could fall in two days. Your
:59:47. > :59:47.local forecast coming up. Joanna Dennehy admitted killing
:59:48. > :59:49.three men. Today,