river levels - Environment Agency telemetry

Been using it for some time.

You need to look at the trend as well as the level.

If its starting to look a bit iffy check upstream stations for level and trend before you start filling sandbags.

It is useful - better than trying to get the police to send a bobby to take a look.
 
sarabande said:
new to me !

The EA now is publishing water level data for rivers and seas.

e.g.

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/floods/riverlevels/136495.aspx?stationId=7129
Click to expand...

The EA's specialist 'node of expertise' is at Bridgwater, Somerset. They have another mini-node, or research outstation, on Lower Bristol Road, Bath.

Be aware - this latter is full of very serious but friendly young number-crunchers, who will wash up and fill a coffee mug for the occasional unexpected visitor. Most of 'em have beards and wiskers - even the wimmin! :D
 
Perhaps on your next visit you might give them some instruction in the nature of tides. Every couple of weeks we have spring tides along the Yorkshire coast and every two weeks they issue flood alerts for the Yorkshire coast and every two weeks these alerts are ignored and every two weeks nothing happens.

I'm sure you can see what one day is going to happen................
 
Crying wolf

We had severe floods in Morpeth and the EA sent out the wrong message saying it was receding when in fact it was getting worse, due to a poor computer system and an operator under pressure. People had to wade out through chest deep sewage filled water with their children on their shoulders or be rescued by the RNLI and helicopter.

The online levels are a good step forward.

Typically the warning is given for Bridlington but the harbour master understands what's happening and knows the risk is wind direction dependent. That sort of thing's a bit too tricky for the Environment Agency.
 
Just re-read my post and it does seem a bit overcritical.

It is really quite difficult, even with all the systems, to give accurate information for degree of flooding and more so for specific location.

Certainly a lot comes down to local knowledge. This is particularly so where you have a "flood alert" which is a sort of "heads up" that there MAY be a problem. Its at this point where there is no imperative to do something that prompt action based on local knowledge can make a difference.

When a "flood warning" is issued then there is an imperative to do something so there is a least a degree of clarity that you have to take action. The down side being that it is not always clear what that action should be. Trying to evacuate people in the early hours of the morning is not something to be taken lightly.

Certainly the Harbour Masters further north do like you man at Brid. In a way its lucky that on the Yorks Coast the really big tides are late afternoon early evening and early morning. At least at those sort of times there are people around and world is sort of awake.

Personally I always keep an eye on the Proudman web site when there are forecasts of high tides - they have tide gauges at several points down the coast so one can see easily if there is any sort of surge developing.
 
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