Sighs of relief (From Witney Gazette)

Sighs of relief

3:19pm Tuesday 22nd January 2008 in Witney By David Horne

EMERGENCY flood planning, with daily assessments, will continue in Witney and West Oxfordshire until the end of this week.

Although the district has escaped a repeat of last summer's devastating floods, and river levels are dropping, the alert is still on because of the sporadic pattern of rainfall.

The Thames, Windrush, and Evenlode could yet be affected by storm water in the Cotswolds.

During the past week, only one village suffered a virtual repeat of July's downpour, with homes hit by rising river water on the Thames.

Residents in Kelmscott were some of the few in the county to have water coming into their houses during the past week - and there was a new public health alert after raw sewage seeped up from septic tanks.

At one stage, the Bablockhythe caravan park was also under threat, with residents advised to move out. But a combination of better planning and less than the expected rainfall saw no one having to evacuate.

Bill Oddy, West Oxfordshire District Council's head of community services, told the Gazette: "It was fortunate we had time to prepare this time.

"I think we were as prepared as we possibly could be, but the weather assisted us in giving us significant notice."

The only other areas affected were at Ascott-under-Wychwood, where several homes had to be sandbagged when the Evenlode burst its banks, and at Hailey Road, Witney, which was closed last Tuesday evening because of a familiar problem of the drains being unable to cope with runoff water.

Mr Oddy said: "During a 48-hour period from Tuesday to Thursday, we were very much focused on being prepared for a similar situation to last July, the worst case scenario, even though the Environment Agency said it would not be so bad."

More than 5,500 sandbags were delivered on request, and sandbagging points set up at many fire stations and village greens. Council engineers were out twice a day to assess localised situations, and will be doing the same all this week.

Plans were also in place for four reception centres - in Bampton, Northmoor, the Wychwoods, and Elmfield, in New Yatt Road, Witney - and with staff on stand-by to provide help for people flooded from their homes. The Kassam Stadium, in Oxford, and local accommodation establishments were on stand-by to receive people for overnight stays.

Senior council officers have been meeting each morning, and sometimes twice a day, for updates and daily action planes.

Mr Oddy added: "In some respects, what happened last week was challenging. We were having to prepare for a major incident as well as keep the day job of the council's services going."

It was not just the council and Environment Agency keeping a watchful eye during the last week. The council's website - www.westoxon.gov.uk - was also being monitored closely, with 12,391 visits, 37 per cent more than normal, for advice and updates.