:00:00. > :00:00.heading our way and wet and windy again. That is all from
:00:07. > :00:10.Good evening and welcome to BBC Points West. We're live on the
:00:11. > :00:12.Somerset Levels as the flooding crisis deepens.
:00:13. > :00:16.After seven weeks, the weather got even worse today, much to the
:00:17. > :00:18.despair of those clinging on to dry land.
:00:19. > :00:24.Torrential rain and 70mph winds dump tonnes of extra water on a landscape
:00:25. > :00:27.that's already sodden. We meet a family hoping for the best
:00:28. > :00:36.but fearing the worst as the elements combine against them. I
:00:37. > :00:41.have been through every single emotion in these last few days. I
:00:42. > :00:46.have cried, laughed, felt physically sick with stress.
:00:47. > :00:50.The farmers at the end of their tether ` how long can they survive?
:00:51. > :00:53.And swaying in the gale ` the Clifton Suspension Bridge closed for
:00:54. > :01:03.the first time due to high winds whipping up the Avon Gorge.
:01:04. > :01:09.Hello ` from a windswept Somerset after yet another day of appalling
:01:10. > :01:13.weather. We are in the village of Burrowbridge, less than ten miles
:01:14. > :01:18.from the M5, yet a world away from normal life. This is a community
:01:19. > :01:23.under siege. At the mercy of the elements. And the weather Gods are
:01:24. > :01:26.not being kind. We drove here on the last open road through miles of
:01:27. > :01:30.flooded farmland. The River Parrott is behind us ` and they have built
:01:31. > :01:36.up the banks with sandbags in a last ditch attempt to save the pub and
:01:37. > :01:40.the homes around here. Other places haven't been as lucky ` the village
:01:41. > :01:44.of North Curry four miles away is under a foot of water ` although as
:01:45. > :01:49.we speak ` no properties have gone under. It's apparent that the
:01:50. > :01:56.emergency is far from over. Andrew Plant has our first report.
:01:57. > :02:00.A car long since claimed by the water. This morning in the village
:02:01. > :02:11.of Long Load. The wind whipped these floods into waves. Looking out to
:02:12. > :02:15.sea, oh dear me. For locals like Ken, the daily ride has been cut
:02:16. > :02:25.short. This pause in normal life is now part of the routine. What is
:02:26. > :02:32.your normal route? I normally go down by the River parrot. But this
:02:33. > :02:36.is as far as I'm going. As winds hit more than 60 mph in the West. The
:02:37. > :02:39.trees began to fall. The driver of this lorry on the A39 somehow
:02:40. > :02:43.escaping without being seriously hurt. Filmed on a phone. In Bristol
:02:44. > :02:48.the suspension bridge quivered. The engineering creaked. In Somerset `
:02:49. > :02:51.the sandbagging ` the shoring up of these swollen rivers continued. As
:02:52. > :03:08.those living with this water looked uneasily on. This driving wind and
:03:09. > :03:16.rain is extremely bad news. That village a couple of miles across the
:03:17. > :03:23.water, the properties again to flood about 12 hours after the rains come
:03:24. > :03:28.down. Rescue teams aware that more rain here means more flooding from
:03:29. > :03:33.water with nowhere to go. Normally, the emergency phase is over in only
:03:34. > :03:42.a few days. We have been sustaining that for a number of weeks. As you
:03:43. > :03:46.can see, it is still raining. In some places it has begun to sink
:03:47. > :03:56.back. But no sense yet in addressing the damage because no`one can say it
:03:57. > :04:02.won't soon come back. The wind is picking up again. I am
:04:03. > :04:05.joined by Craig Woolhouse, from the Environment Agency. They had if
:04:06. > :04:11.there difficult job today. Where is all that rain going to go? It is
:04:12. > :04:15.coming down the River parrot in particular, which took most of the
:04:16. > :04:20.rainfall today. We see the rain falls slowly rising and we see more
:04:21. > :04:25.rainfall coming in on Friday. It is a difficult situation on the moors
:04:26. > :04:29.and levels. There are one or two things we are planning at the moment
:04:30. > :04:34.which we are trying to put in place and we hope those will come on
:04:35. > :04:41.stream in the next couple of days. I you expecting more properties to
:04:42. > :04:46.flood? We have had a couple flood but it is likely that more well We
:04:47. > :04:49.are putting in a big pumping operation to improve the capacity
:04:50. > :04:56.and the throughput of water in the river system and take away some of
:04:57. > :05:01.the pressure on flooded properties. Driving here today, and seeing the
:05:02. > :05:07.sheer expanse of flooded areas, is there much that human beings can do
:05:08. > :05:13.until the rain actually lets up We need the weather to let up. We have
:05:14. > :05:17.to see the water drain away over the coming weeks. It will be weeks
:05:18. > :05:21.before we can get the water away. We have the pump stations and plays
:05:22. > :05:26.every day of the year but we have brought in extra capacity. This
:05:27. > :05:31.weekend, we hope to be pumping more down into the King Sedgemore drain
:05:32. > :05:37.and out into the River parrot further downstream. That'll
:05:38. > :05:44.hopefully get as to draw level down quicker. The prime ministers said
:05:45. > :05:50.money was no object when it came to the flooding, have you now got the
:05:51. > :05:55.people and machinery? We have brought pumps over from Holland
:05:56. > :06:01.bigger pumps that we have `` then we have seen in this country. We are
:06:02. > :06:09.trying to help the situation. Thank you very much indeed. We are seeing
:06:10. > :06:16.you working very hard. Let's go inside the pub.
:06:17. > :06:21.I am in the King Alfred Inn in Boroughbridge. This is the hub of
:06:22. > :06:25.the local community. All the local communities are on the other side,
:06:26. > :06:32.talking about what they have done. This is also the headquarters for
:06:33. > :06:39.Flooding on the Levels Action Group. We met last week, Rebecca in
:06:40. > :06:43.Moorland. It is a different picture. Completely different. Last Tuesday
:06:44. > :06:46.was a normal night. We had a Flooding on the Levels Action Group
:06:47. > :06:50.meeting and then we had a police helicopter is telling us we had to
:06:51. > :06:59.evacuate. Tell us what your groupies? It is an action group not
:07:00. > :07:03.a charity. We highlighted our campaign to get the rivers dredged
:07:04. > :07:08.and then it became an information point about road closures. You have
:07:09. > :07:15.managed to do incredible things You have moved cattle, got lorries in.
:07:16. > :07:21.We have coordinated the movement of 850 cattle on Thursday. We had a
:07:22. > :07:26.convoy of 15 cat `` tractors and trains moving cattle. Otherwise they
:07:27. > :07:33.would have been drowned. I have noticed your timeline is as full of
:07:34. > :07:40.banks as it is for gas additives of `` your timeline is as full of banks
:07:41. > :07:44.as with calls for help. We have been fighting over the last few days It
:07:45. > :07:51.has been a complete emergency situation. The agencies have not
:07:52. > :07:55.been quick enough to respond. We are managing quite well but we are now
:07:56. > :08:02.talking to Somerset County Council and hopefully they will be able to
:08:03. > :08:09.take up some of the slack. You are doing this out of your own time
:08:10. > :08:14.this is your life? Yes, my life has totally changed. We were evacuated
:08:15. > :08:19.on Wednesday. Our house and village of flooded. A complete change of
:08:20. > :08:33.life. And there have been outpourings from our viewers. Our
:08:34. > :08:37.reporter has been in Moorland. This is the sixth day that
:08:38. > :08:42.volunteers have delivered sandbags. They are headed to the only visible
:08:43. > :08:46.bit of road in Moorland village I haven't come to meet Angela
:08:47. > :08:50.Greenway. The sandbags are keeping the water away from 14 houses which
:08:51. > :08:55.are surrounded by flooding on three sides. It is a nightmare. People
:08:56. > :09:02.have waded through mud and water to get to us. The idea is to build a
:09:03. > :09:09.wall here. We have 5000 sandbags coming in. Most of the work has been
:09:10. > :09:13.done by the people who live here. They have even putting in their own
:09:14. > :09:16.pump. They feel they have been left on their own and the daily routine
:09:17. > :09:23.of fighting the floods has taken its toll. I have been through every
:09:24. > :09:28.emotion in these last few days. I have cried, laughed, felt physically
:09:29. > :09:39.sick with stress. This is a crazy world at the moment. Do you want to
:09:40. > :09:47.go to school? Yeah. Time for a quick cup of tea before the sandbags
:09:48. > :09:51.arrive. Angela's daughter Georgie is not going to school for fear of
:09:52. > :09:56.being cut off. The logistics of getting from a to B are a nightmare.
:09:57. > :10:04.I am scared because you don't know what is happening overnight. There
:10:05. > :10:13.are some amazing donations. The Greenway's conservatory `` the
:10:14. > :10:19.greenways' conservatory has turned into a distribution centre. She
:10:20. > :10:23.shows me yet more donations. Get that into the freezer, and find out
:10:24. > :10:27.who we can distribute it to. It is great because the guys working late
:10:28. > :10:38.and villages hit the stew and take it out to them. `` and we can just
:10:39. > :10:46.heat the stew. The last sandbags arrive. Time to get the neighbours
:10:47. > :10:55.out to deliver them. They are determined to do battle with the
:10:56. > :10:59.elements until the bitter end. I hope we reflect the community
:11:00. > :11:05.spirit. It is easy for us to say that, but it is overwhelming. You
:11:06. > :11:14.feel it. One man who knows more about it is Ravi Singh. He is from
:11:15. > :11:22.Slough. We are from Slough. We are an international relief organisation
:11:23. > :11:26.funded by the Sikh community. The organisation is Khalsa Aid. We
:11:27. > :11:35.didn't take this seriously at first but then on radio five live we heard
:11:36. > :11:39.about why `` people asking why international organisations were not
:11:40. > :11:47.doing anything. But you only came for a day? We came for a day on
:11:48. > :11:51.Saturday, and I'm still here. More people are coming tomorrow. The
:11:52. > :11:55.whole community is together. You haven't stopped. This is a real
:11:56. > :12:03.harbour. You took a minute to text your family and tell them you were
:12:04. > :12:08.gay. `` this is a real centre. Yes, I did that. The problem here is that
:12:09. > :12:16.the community has been left on their own. We are doing filling in. We are
:12:17. > :12:22.filling a hundred tonnes of sandbags. When Flooding on the
:12:23. > :12:28.Levels Action Group's resents it was talking, that they want the council
:12:29. > :12:36.to take over, I think it will be a huge mistake if they do not get the
:12:37. > :12:50.local community to work with them. They did do so last night, but it is
:12:51. > :12:55.a valid point. Dozens suck. `` Dozens of farms are
:12:56. > :12:58.here on the Levels. As the water rose we witnessed
:12:59. > :13:01.frantic scenes as many heartbroken farmers had to move their cows to
:13:02. > :13:05.save them from drowning. Now with their fields under water, how are
:13:06. > :13:11.they managing to survive? We took wildlife expert Mike Dilger to meet
:13:12. > :13:15.some of them. I regularly come down to the
:13:16. > :13:20.Somerset levels to spot wildlife. Down there is a nature reserve I
:13:21. > :13:25.know really well. This time of year, I would expect to see thousands of
:13:26. > :13:29.waders from all over Europe. All I can see is water. This
:13:30. > :13:34.transformation over such a short space of time has had a devastating
:13:35. > :13:43.impact on the animals and the people who work with them. In the valley
:13:44. > :13:50.behind this village, Stokes and Gregory, this is a farm. This is
:13:51. > :13:55.higher than it has ever been, ever recorded on West Sedgemoor.
:13:56. > :13:58.Fortunately for you, you have high land and you have been able to take
:13:59. > :14:04.cattle and cattle from further afield. Yes, the actual farm
:14:05. > :14:12.buildings are all up I so that is great. And we have managed to take
:14:13. > :14:16.some other farmers animals whose whole farm has become inundated But
:14:17. > :14:22.for us, the land being inundated means there is a longer term
:14:23. > :14:25.effects. Water may be the initial immediate problem but nobody knows
:14:26. > :14:31.what they can dish and of the soil will be afterwards or how long the
:14:32. > :14:34.water will take to recede. There are so many pumps working round the
:14:35. > :14:39.clock to drain the Levels which are still not scratching the surface. A
:14:40. > :14:45.lot of the farmers are saying that the water is still rising. We have
:14:46. > :14:51.never seen it like this. In 60 years, we have never seen it. Tony
:14:52. > :15:02.David's whole world is underwater. Home and farm inundated. `` Tony
:15:03. > :15:07.David's. We will struggle. I the National Farmers Union supporting
:15:08. > :15:16.you? Me and my father was talking about that. He is so disgusted with
:15:17. > :15:22.him `` with them. We have had one phone call but no back`up. They have
:15:23. > :15:28.had no help with the dredging. They haven't done anything for us. Tony
:15:29. > :15:31.thinks it might be two months before he can return to its farm but it
:15:32. > :15:36.might be longer before you can find out the quality of the soil he will
:15:37. > :15:40.be left with. Strong criticism there. I will be
:15:41. > :15:43.talking to the National Farmers Union. But first, we thought we
:15:44. > :15:50.would show you this place in daylight. This is the main road into
:15:51. > :15:56.Burrowbridge. Covered in water. And the waves are coming in. It is like
:15:57. > :16:01.being on the beach. No wonder the people are so fearful about what
:16:02. > :16:05.lies ahead. John Hebditch from the National Farmers Union is with me.
:16:06. > :16:11.Some criticism of your organisation. Is it fair? I feel very sorry for
:16:12. > :16:18.the individuals involved and we are doing our best. We have agents
:16:19. > :16:23.working very hard to process claims and to organise fodder banks and
:16:24. > :16:28.accommodation for cattle and sheep. But seven weeks on, this crisis is
:16:29. > :16:35.clearly not over. We can't even see the beginning of the end. What is
:16:36. > :16:38.the future hold for farmers? I think the future is quite grim and
:16:39. > :16:44.everything that you can see, we should be grass, will be dead. It
:16:45. > :16:48.will have to be re`sown, restarted. It will have to be done out of a
:16:49. > :16:54.pocket that is not having an income. So what are farmers going to do
:16:55. > :16:59.However going to go? With difficulty. They will need help and
:17:00. > :17:03.I hope the NFU will help them get money out of the government. Thank
:17:04. > :17:10.you for coming here today, by tractor! Thank you.
:17:11. > :17:13.I know that is hard to hear and I can't really add to the good news at
:17:14. > :17:20.the moment. I have come upstairs to the pub. The reason is it `` the
:17:21. > :17:28.reason it is not good news is that there are other places that of
:17:29. > :17:31.flooding. . In Gloucestershire there are now 14 flood warnings in place
:17:32. > :17:35.and there are fears tomorrow ` after another day of rain ` some homes
:17:36. > :17:38.could begin to flood. With the latest, here's Steve Knibbs.
:17:39. > :17:42.This was a riverside caravan park ` now part of the river ` the
:17:43. > :17:45.electrical hook ups poke out of the water in the distance. With the
:17:46. > :17:50.Severn expected to rise ` the owners are once again on edge. Just packing
:17:51. > :17:55.an overnight bag in case we do have to move out. The moment we think we
:17:56. > :18:01.are almost safe, `` at the moment, we think we almost say. But not 100%
:18:02. > :18:04.certain. You have to take each hour it comes. This is an area well used
:18:05. > :18:10.to battening down the hatches. In Longford people are ready well in
:18:11. > :18:15.advance. People are coping well They know the score. They watch
:18:16. > :18:21.television and they have experienced 2007 floods as well. And the
:18:22. > :18:26.sandbags keep on coming ` well over 1,500 have been delivered this week
:18:27. > :18:30.in Tewkesbury Borough alone. It is important that the filled bags are
:18:31. > :18:35.going to the right people. We are delivering sandbags to vulnerable
:18:36. > :18:37.people. But not all of them seem to be staying put. These are
:18:38. > :18:44.replacements for ones that disappeared. There have been about
:18:45. > :18:48.one tonne taken away, stolen. The emergency services are ready, too.
:18:49. > :18:51.Today, fire crews trained to launch one of their boats in the choppy
:18:52. > :18:57.swollen river at Gloucester ` with serious discussions taking place to
:18:58. > :19:00.make sure the county is ready. Local resilience and protection teams are
:19:01. > :19:04.looking at the contingency measures that will need to be put in place.
:19:05. > :19:07.They are taking `` we want to take this opportunity to reassure people
:19:08. > :19:11.we are doing all we can. And it s a good job the fire teams are well
:19:12. > :19:14.trained ` this van driver on the Gloucestershire border had to be
:19:15. > :19:18.rescued after thinking he'd make it along a flooded road next to the
:19:19. > :19:24.River Wye. A risk that took up valuable time from the Welsh fire
:19:25. > :19:27.crews sent in to get him. Let's bring you some other news
:19:28. > :19:30.The former Bristol MP Tony Benn is seriously ill in hospital. The
:19:31. > :19:34.88`year`old was admitted at the weekend. Tony Benn retired from
:19:35. > :19:36.Parliament 13 years ago. Last October he gave television
:19:37. > :19:41.interviews as the final instalment of his diaries was published. He
:19:42. > :19:49.represented Bristol for 30 years, serving in two Labour governments.
:19:50. > :19:53.Some sports news. Bristol City has become the first
:19:54. > :19:56.football club in the UK to show off new rail seats ` which could allow
:19:57. > :20:00.fans to stand at matches in the future. The club's hoping to install
:20:01. > :20:03.some if the redevelopment of its current ground goes ahead this
:20:04. > :20:05.summer. The idea of standing at matches has been contentious since
:20:06. > :20:10.the Hillsborough disaster, but the club maintains the new rail seats
:20:11. > :20:14.are safe. Two of Britain's best medal hopes at
:20:15. > :20:17.the Winter Olympics will be competing tomorrow in the skeleton.
:20:18. > :20:20.Lizzy Yarnold from Bath won this year's world cup series. She'll be
:20:21. > :20:29.involved in the qualifying rounds along with current World Champion
:20:30. > :20:37.Shelley Rudman from Pewsey. That is good news. If you want more today's
:20:38. > :20:44.stories, you can watch Points West on the late bulletin. For now, back
:20:45. > :20:50.to David. It is quite convivial at the bar in
:20:51. > :20:59.the King Alfred. Nothing really prepares you from the chill that you
:21:00. > :21:02.get from the floodwaters. Well in the last hour the first public
:21:03. > :21:05.meeting about the flooding crisis in Somerset has got underway on the
:21:06. > :21:08.outskirts of Bridgwater. Our reporter Scott Ellis is there.
:21:09. > :21:13.A public meeting about to get underway in Bridgwater. A very small
:21:14. > :21:17.turnout `` a very strong turnout. It is an opportunity for people to find
:21:18. > :21:21.out what is being done to pump water away from the Moors. It means a
:21:22. > :21:25.great deal to these people because many have been evacuated from their
:21:26. > :21:30.homes in Moorland. They are very distressed and they want to know how
:21:31. > :21:34.long it will be until that water is shifted and they can start to think
:21:35. > :21:43.about moving back in and repairing their homes. It is a devastating
:21:44. > :21:48.life experience. That's bad? Yes. There has been very little
:21:49. > :21:52.communication. This is the sort of information being handed out. It
:21:53. > :21:56.shows the extent of the album. The water is coming in this way. They
:21:57. > :22:02.have built a dam to protect the south side of Bridgwater. This
:22:03. > :22:06.pumping operation is going on outside. There is a map showing
:22:07. > :22:11.where all the fault `` where all the pumps are working on the Levels
:22:12. > :22:16.Some are not operating because of the bad weather. But you can see
:22:17. > :22:20.that there is a huge turnout here. Several hundred people already. This
:22:21. > :22:25.is a very critical time. People want to know how much longer before that
:22:26. > :22:29.water starts receiving. The good news at the moment is that the water
:22:30. > :22:37.on North Moore is holding. But more bad weather on the `` more bad
:22:38. > :22:43.weather on the way. I joined now by David Heath, the MP
:22:44. > :22:51.for Somerset and friends. `` Somerset and fruit. You have been
:22:52. > :22:56.talking to the Prime Minister. We have got some money for farmers
:22:57. > :23:02.that is good news. We have money for businesses. The rate rebate for the
:23:03. > :23:09.time that the floods are on plus some deferred tax payments. But most
:23:10. > :23:12.importantly, I got the finance minister `` I got an agreement to
:23:13. > :23:17.meet me and my colleagues when we have a long`term plan which includes
:23:18. > :23:23.dredging but also land management and possibly a sluice on the River
:23:24. > :23:28.parrot barrage. We will go through it and make sure we get the cash to
:23:29. > :23:32.do the job properly. The National Farmers Union told me that they are
:23:33. > :23:36.worried about what happens when the water is gone. The land will be
:23:37. > :23:42.dead, the animals will be disbursed, the farmers will have no business,
:23:43. > :23:47.how will they survive? I hope this money will go some way to helping
:23:48. > :23:51.them through a difficult period There is a loss of kindness, forage
:23:52. > :23:56.is coming in from the other side of the country to help people feed
:23:57. > :23:59.their animals. But there will be a difficulty because just like last
:24:00. > :24:06.year, when the land was under water for a long time, there is no pastor,
:24:07. > :24:12.we have not been able to drill. So farmers will not be able to carry on
:24:13. > :24:17.their business. They will rely on this cash coming in but also, the
:24:18. > :24:21.fact that the banks have agreed to be helpful as well. Banks are not
:24:22. > :24:27.always helpful but they will be in this circumstance. I guess they are
:24:28. > :24:29.in the centre of a national spotlight. But now the Thames Valley
:24:30. > :24:34.is beginning to floods and that will take over at the top of the news
:24:35. > :24:39.agenda. These people may be forgotten. They must not be. I have
:24:40. > :24:44.a commitment from the Prime Minister. I think he is very engaged
:24:45. > :24:50.with us here. It is what we have been arguing for four months. To
:24:51. > :24:56.make `` we have been arguing for, for months. To make sure that we
:24:57. > :25:00.have helped because the Somerset levels are a unique environment
:25:01. > :25:05.Thank you for joining me in the pub this evening.
:25:06. > :25:08.I have to say it was awful weather today. You know that as well as we
:25:09. > :25:20.do. Now the weather. It wouldn't take much to have an
:25:21. > :25:26.improvement in the weather compared to the atrocious British ``
:25:27. > :25:29.conditions of today. It is a better day tomorrow but still blustery
:25:30. > :25:37.There will also be showers around and some could be wintry in places.
:25:38. > :25:45.Taking a retrospective look at the strength of the wind across the
:25:46. > :25:51.West. These are the speeds. Look across to the mumbles on the south
:25:52. > :25:55.side of Wales and close to 100 miles per hour. So we dodged a bullet in
:25:56. > :26:01.terms of the position of that area of low pressure. It is still causing
:26:02. > :26:08.chaos up in the north`west. Our next problem is the threat of hail, sleet
:26:09. > :26:12.and snow tonight. We have a Met Office weather warning. It will be a
:26:13. > :26:17.localised problem. Tomorrow, barring some showers, it will be a better
:26:18. > :26:25.day. Nowhere near as windy. Shell is moving into night and they will show
:26:26. > :26:30.a tendency to give some snow. After three centimetres of snow starting
:26:31. > :26:37.to fall to the east of Bristol. Bath, North East Somerset, the M4
:26:38. > :26:41.corridor. Perhaps a few other spots. It is difficult to localise until we
:26:42. > :26:48.see is unfolding on the radar. It will be a cold night. Be wary of icy
:26:49. > :26:52.stretches tomorrow. The wind is still a feature through the morning
:26:53. > :26:56.but it will become less so in the afternoon. Certainly compared to
:26:57. > :27:01.today. But a blustery day nonetheless. It will feel cold. At
:27:02. > :27:08.least some sunshine to go with it. Temperatures tomorrow between 6
:27:09. > :27:15.Celsius and seven Celsius. On Friday, further Met Office yellow
:27:16. > :27:16.warning for rain and strong winds. You can see that low moving in from
:27:17. > :27:31.the south`west. It is not good news. We are not shocked by that, but
:27:32. > :27:39.thank you for the full cost. It is dying down, but still cold and
:27:40. > :27:43.breezy. I had a dream that I had a bloke inside who dreamt about
:27:44. > :27:45.sandbags! That is where we have to leave it tonight.
:27:46. > :27:47.For people here,