Almost lost the Vette to the floods in the UK!
07-22-2007, 03:28 AM
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Staging Lane
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Almost lost the Vette to the floods in the UK! I have just come back from my holiday in Spain's Costa Del Sol on Friday 20th July. It was wall to wall sunshine in Spain and I had a great week away.
I had used the Vette as it was just My wife and I on holiday as my 2 kids and to old to come with us now (18 & 22).
I was flying from Nottinghams East midlands airport which is about 100 miles form where I live. I used the Vette to get us to the airport and back as the kids needed the the other 2 small cars to get to work. When we landed at 7pm we could see how wet it was everywhere floods in the fields etc. Turns out it had been raining for about 10 hours!
Mostly in the Midlands ared of the UK and a lot of rivers had burst there banks and most of the towns drainage systems were overwhelmed with 1 months rain falling in 1 day!
I had the journey from hell getting back down through the Midlands to Swindon which is on the M4 Motorway between London and Bristol.
As I did not know about the floods until I started driving home as there was no warning at the airport! I started my journey home. I went down the M1 motorway from Junction 23a to junction 18 without too much trouble apart form a few blocks of stopped traffic.
When I started the across country part of my trip down towards Daventy and Banbury things started to go pretty scary soon on as it was now dark and there were puddles up to the height of the Kurbs 4" and in some place 6" to 12"s deep.
I went through about 5 long puddles 4 to 6 inches deepand had to go to the other side of the road to find the sahllowest part. I had to drive at 40mph on roads I would normally be doing 60 mph on as I had to look out for the flooded areas!
I had gone through 1 puddle where the was 2 abandoned cars on the other side of one and I had to drive around them! I was looking at the height of the water and thinking well it's only 4 to 6 inches the car should be fine if I crawl through just above idle.
I had only gone about 20 miles on these country roads and I had another 40 miles of them to get home! So I decided I had to get back on one of the motorways. I came towards Banbury where I new the M40 to Oxford went near and decided I would detour on to that.
I got to the edge of Banbury and the floods were horendous! near the north of the town the road was flood for a 200 yards again up to the Kurbs and higher. It was 1 car at a time as the only route through was on the wrong side of the road! I watched other cars making it across form the other direction. Then it was my turn I carefully negoited my way across!
There was a few times I looked at the puddles and thought maybe I shoud turn back and try and find somewhere to stay the night! Some people had to spend the night trapped on the M5 which is another route I could have taken! But thank goodness I didn't.
My wife was in tears as we we fording some of these floods and thank gooness the roads I choose from then on we fine. I went down the M40 to Oxford then down the A34 to Newbury and joinded the M4 and went west to Swindon without further problems until I hit my home town.
Here things were easier as they had closed the flooded roads and stopped any more people going throught the floods. Where as all the other flooded towns roads I had gone through in the midlands had no closed roads or flood signs Nothing! Never saw a policeman a fireman no one to warn me not to even attempt the route!
If the Vette had stopped in one of those flooded roads the water was up to the bottom of the doors and would have eventually seeped in and ruined the car! It would have been an insurance write off totalled!
A journey that would have normally took me 3 hours took 4 and 1/2 hours and I went a fare bit out of my way to stay on the motorways ( freeways)
I inspected the Vette and the only caualty was one on my fog light screens was washed out by the water as they are on a pressure fit in there! Tiny bit on damp on the passenger floor carpet that's it thank goodness.
Looking back on it if I new what I was going to drive through I would have spent the night in a Hotel by the airport and gone in day light the next day.
It was pretty scary and I have never seen the roads in the UK as bad as this in all my years of driving! Thank goodness the Vette never missed a beat through all that water and I still got 23 average mpg! what a car! Mind you I wished I would have been driving a big 4X4! instead at some points!
I must add my experience must pale in comparrioson with thousands of people in the Uk that have had there homes and businesses flooded out and lost just about everything. There are also thousands of cars that have been flooded behond repair!My heart goes out to them!
The Uk's weather has gone kinda screwey lately! It rained through most of May June and July. This time last Year we had a drought and a hosepipe ban all summer!
Cheers Andy
I had used the Vette as it was just My wife and I on holiday as my 2 kids and to old to come with us now (18 & 22).
I was flying from Nottinghams East midlands airport which is about 100 miles form where I live. I used the Vette to get us to the airport and back as the kids needed the the other 2 small cars to get to work. When we landed at 7pm we could see how wet it was everywhere floods in the fields etc. Turns out it had been raining for about 10 hours!
Mostly in the Midlands ared of the UK and a lot of rivers had burst there banks and most of the towns drainage systems were overwhelmed with 1 months rain falling in 1 day!
I had the journey from hell getting back down through the Midlands to Swindon which is on the M4 Motorway between London and Bristol.
As I did not know about the floods until I started driving home as there was no warning at the airport! I started my journey home. I went down the M1 motorway from Junction 23a to junction 18 without too much trouble apart form a few blocks of stopped traffic.
When I started the across country part of my trip down towards Daventy and Banbury things started to go pretty scary soon on as it was now dark and there were puddles up to the height of the Kurbs 4" and in some place 6" to 12"s deep.
I went through about 5 long puddles 4 to 6 inches deepand had to go to the other side of the road to find the sahllowest part. I had to drive at 40mph on roads I would normally be doing 60 mph on as I had to look out for the flooded areas!
I had gone through 1 puddle where the was 2 abandoned cars on the other side of one and I had to drive around them! I was looking at the height of the water and thinking well it's only 4 to 6 inches the car should be fine if I crawl through just above idle.
I had only gone about 20 miles on these country roads and I had another 40 miles of them to get home! So I decided I had to get back on one of the motorways. I came towards Banbury where I new the M40 to Oxford went near and decided I would detour on to that.
I got to the edge of Banbury and the floods were horendous! near the north of the town the road was flood for a 200 yards again up to the Kurbs and higher. It was 1 car at a time as the only route through was on the wrong side of the road! I watched other cars making it across form the other direction. Then it was my turn I carefully negoited my way across!
There was a few times I looked at the puddles and thought maybe I shoud turn back and try and find somewhere to stay the night! Some people had to spend the night trapped on the M5 which is another route I could have taken! But thank goodness I didn't.
My wife was in tears as we we fording some of these floods and thank gooness the roads I choose from then on we fine. I went down the M40 to Oxford then down the A34 to Newbury and joinded the M4 and went west to Swindon without further problems until I hit my home town.
Here things were easier as they had closed the flooded roads and stopped any more people going throught the floods. Where as all the other flooded towns roads I had gone through in the midlands had no closed roads or flood signs Nothing! Never saw a policeman a fireman no one to warn me not to even attempt the route!
If the Vette had stopped in one of those flooded roads the water was up to the bottom of the doors and would have eventually seeped in and ruined the car! It would have been an insurance write off totalled!
A journey that would have normally took me 3 hours took 4 and 1/2 hours and I went a fare bit out of my way to stay on the motorways ( freeways)
I inspected the Vette and the only caualty was one on my fog light screens was washed out by the water as they are on a pressure fit in there! Tiny bit on damp on the passenger floor carpet that's it thank goodness.
Looking back on it if I new what I was going to drive through I would have spent the night in a Hotel by the airport and gone in day light the next day.
It was pretty scary and I have never seen the roads in the UK as bad as this in all my years of driving! Thank goodness the Vette never missed a beat through all that water and I still got 23 average mpg! what a car! Mind you I wished I would have been driving a big 4X4! instead at some points!
I must add my experience must pale in comparrioson with thousands of people in the Uk that have had there homes and businesses flooded out and lost just about everything. There are also thousands of cars that have been flooded behond repair!My heart goes out to them!
The Uk's weather has gone kinda screwey lately! It rained through most of May June and July. This time last Year we had a drought and a hosepipe ban all summer!
Cheers Andy
Last edited by 97vetteman; 07-22-2007 at 04:11 AM.
07-22-2007, 03:17 PM
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sorry to here your problems Andy, it took me an hour to travel from work to home friday night which is only 4 miles due to the floods, i was in a queue of traffic in my yank truck when a guy walking up the road in a brolly told me that if i drove through the flood it would be up over my wing mirrors so turned round & took another route.
There is only 2 bridges in worcester & 1 was closed yesterday morning by the cricket ground due to flooding so will be fun getting home tomorrow as they say the severn will not peak until tomorrow night
There is only 2 bridges in worcester & 1 was closed yesterday morning by the cricket ground due to flooding so will be fun getting home tomorrow as they say the severn will not peak until tomorrow night
07-23-2007, 02:26 AM
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Staging Lane
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Hi Paul, the news for says things are very bad in Glouster and Tweksbury where thay have lost even clean drinking water due to flood of the water treatment plant that supplies 350,000 people.
As you say the rivers are still rising as all Fridays rain runs off the countryside into the Seven Avon and Thames which is also on flood alert. Swindon is fine now as our local river can only be decribed as a stream and although it burst it's banks and flooded the road above it has now subsided and they reopened the road Saturday.
Hope everything is ok for you. When we finally arrived home at Midnight on Friday we herd how lucky we were to even make it home when we saw the TV news Saturday morning as flooding has closed the M5 forcing people to spend the night in there cars which is another route I could of taken. I avoided the A420 from Oxford to Swindon which turned out to be a good descion as that was closed.
I avoided the A419 which runs from the M4 J15 to Circester which turned out to be under 4 ft of water. After my experiences coming fromJ 18 M1 down to Banbury I avoided all Country roads and decided Motorways and Dual carriagways were the only safe routes home.
I wouldn't attempt a journey like that again, I just wished there would have been some warning at East Midlands Airport and I would have booked a night in a hotel there and waited at least Until saturday daylight to try and get home.
Although I have always been taught it is fine to ford areas of water, but it's pretty scary doing it in a low to the ground expensive sports car on unlit country road just having headlights to see whats ahead and when you've done 6 of them and there getting deeper and longer it's scary stuff! If you gave me the options of my journey or the Hotel for the night I would take the Hotel everytime.
Keep safe Paul speak to you soon. Let me know how it goes over the next few days.
Cheers Andy
As you say the rivers are still rising as all Fridays rain runs off the countryside into the Seven Avon and Thames which is also on flood alert. Swindon is fine now as our local river can only be decribed as a stream and although it burst it's banks and flooded the road above it has now subsided and they reopened the road Saturday.
Hope everything is ok for you. When we finally arrived home at Midnight on Friday we herd how lucky we were to even make it home when we saw the TV news Saturday morning as flooding has closed the M5 forcing people to spend the night in there cars which is another route I could of taken. I avoided the A420 from Oxford to Swindon which turned out to be a good descion as that was closed.
I avoided the A419 which runs from the M4 J15 to Circester which turned out to be under 4 ft of water. After my experiences coming fromJ 18 M1 down to Banbury I avoided all Country roads and decided Motorways and Dual carriagways were the only safe routes home.
I wouldn't attempt a journey like that again, I just wished there would have been some warning at East Midlands Airport and I would have booked a night in a hotel there and waited at least Until saturday daylight to try and get home.
Although I have always been taught it is fine to ford areas of water, but it's pretty scary doing it in a low to the ground expensive sports car on unlit country road just having headlights to see whats ahead and when you've done 6 of them and there getting deeper and longer it's scary stuff! If you gave me the options of my journey or the Hotel for the night I would take the Hotel everytime.
Keep safe Paul speak to you soon. Let me know how it goes over the next few days.
Cheers Andy
07-24-2007, 02:46 PM
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Cheers Andy, lost internet connection for a few days & electricity for 5 hours friday night.
Me & the wife walked up to the only severn bridge that was still open at 4 PM Saturday which is a mile away from our house & took these pics
At the end of the road where you can see the cars driving is a large roundabout, by 6PM this was flooding as the river teme floods into the severn & was only passable 1 car at a time
Me & the wife walked up to the only severn bridge that was still open at 4 PM Saturday which is a mile away from our house & took these pics
At the end of the road where you can see the cars driving is a large roundabout, by 6PM this was flooding as the river teme floods into the severn & was only passable 1 car at a time
07-25-2007, 02:04 AM
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Staging Lane
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Hi Paul, looks aweful there! I know Glouster and Twekesbury have been really badly hit by the Severn and Avon. They have lost tap water for 2 weeks!
The Thames is now flooding near Oxford as the water flows off the surrouding countryside into it. We are lucky as although the Thames comes within 10 miles or so of Swindon we are up on a hill.
Cheers Andy
The Thames is now flooding near Oxford as the water flows off the surrouding countryside into it. We are lucky as although the Thames comes within 10 miles or so of Swindon we are up on a hill.
Cheers Andy
07-30-2007, 02:51 AM
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The weather is messed up, you guys got some severe flooding, southeast europe drought and fires, Mid-west Sweden got snowfall.
There's probably more stuff going on somewhere else.
Take is easy guys,
/Micke
There's probably more stuff going on somewhere else.
Take is easy guys,
/Micke