Heather Rawling, Leicester Socialist Party
Just because you live on a hill doesn’t mean floods won’t affect you. I’m thankful that my house is not in danger of flooding, but we were virtually cut off from major routes into Leicester after flooding at the start of the year.
My daughter was due to attend a two-day residential training course and I was needed to look after my grandson. Knowing that bad weather was forecast and some parts of my route can be flooded, I checked the flood warning map the night before: no flood alerts.
Nevertheless, I set off in good time. Just after leaving my village, I realised it was not going to be an easy journey. There was much more surface water and puddles across the whole carriageway than I have ever seen before. On the main road, the first bit of flooding wasn’t too deep but the water had brought a stream’s load of stones and gravel onto the road. I hadn’t experienced that before.
Further on, cars had stopped as deep water blocked the way. I turned around and took a different route, in the dark, with driving snow and deep puddles across the roads. I eventually arrived after diverting down the M1. My daughter missed her train, which was cancelled anyway, as were all others.
Why were warnings not given? Emergency services were overwhelmed!
East Midlands Ambulance Service declared its first ever critical incident and Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service announced a major incident, it received over 380 calls and crews rescued 59 people on the day.
Saved from cuts
And yet in 2015, Leicestershire Combined Fire Authority proposed to make £1.5 million of cuts which would have led to the loss of eleven appliances (specialised vehicles) and 88 frontline jobs, and fire stations including Leicester Central closing. Thankfully, a massive campaign led by the Fire Brigades Union stopped most of those cuts from taking place. I dread to think what would have happened if they had gone ahead.
Emergency services cannot be run on a ‘just enough staff and resources to just about cope’ basis. Austerity has cut these services to a minimum, including ambulance services. They should be resourced at all times to be able to deal with critical incidents. We need to fully fund Fire and Rescue and ambulance services and the NHS to ensure that ambulances are not left queueing outside A&E. Kick the privateers out!
Roads near me flood on a regular basis and it seems to be getting worse. Property developers have built houses in areas known to flood. Conservative-run Leicestershire County Council is the Lead Local Flood Authority, and has already cut £262 million from its services since 2010. A mere £1.5 million has been earmarked to tackle flooding in a county where flooding is widespread, even from minor streams, and is getting more frequent. As the effects of climate change are increasingly felt, major flooding incidents will become a bigger problem that working-class people will have to face.
Trade unions and community campaigns can organise to demand no cuts in council services. And to fight for the funding for the emergency services, flood defences and all the services we need.
