Storm Bert Departs, Leaves UK Destruction Behind

Damage in England after severe flooding from Storm 
Bert. Photo from Northampton Chronicle.

One of the two "bomb cyclones" I mentioned in an entry I posted here this past Saturday was Storm Bert in the UK, that I said was a dangerous storm.  

You bet it was. 

Storm Bert focused much of its fury on central England and Wales, where several communities were inundated by flood waters. Five deaths have been reported with this storm.  

A flood wall collapsed in TenburyWells (see videos below) sending a surge of water through town. 

Later,  a 57 year old man proved that weather-related stupidity is not just a creature of the United States. This idiot blasted through the flooded town on a large farm tractor through floodwaters, causing a huge wake and waves that damaged shops far beyond just what the existing flooding would have done. 

The man was later arrested. 

Storm Bert flooded a large mobile home park, affecting 114 families. It was the third time the neighborhood had been flooded within a year.

Parts of Wales also suffered debris flows from what are known as coal tips. Those are big piles of waste material from coal mining. These piles have sat largely abandoned after the coal industry collapsed decades ago. 

Some of the flooding extended into Northern Ireland, where some towns were flooded over the weekend. 

Flood warnings remain in effect in parts of England and Wales. New rains are due in the coming several days, but they are not forecast to be as intense as those that hit with Storm Bert.

 Video shows the moment when flood defenses failed and a gush of  floodwater surged through the small town of Tenbury Wells in Worcestershire. Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that:

Video of people bailing water, being evacuated and a dog being rescued as water rises in a Welsh town after Storm Bert. Again, click on this link or if you see the image below, click on that:

And here's the idiot I mentioned above who blundered through a flooded town with a tractor, causing a lot of added damage. The driver has since been arrested.  Click on this link to view, or if you see the image below, click on that: 

Ignoring "Turn Around Don't Drown" Leads To An Epic YouTube Channel

Two more cars, among perhaps thousands, that have
fallen victim to Rufford Ford in England 

You've heard the phrase "Turn Around Don't Drown" over and over again, right?

It's weather and safety officials begging you not to drive your car through flood waters. Best case scenario when you do that is you destroy your car's engine, hence your vehicle. Worst case scenario is you get swept away and drown. 

Neither option is particularly appetizing. However, somebody in the UK has made a great YouTube channel out of the stupidity of driving through one flood prone spot. 

The back story first: 

The YouTube channel by Tom Sunderland involves Rufford Ford in Nottinghampshire in UK. As hotcars.com explains, there's something like 2,000 of these so-called fords in England.

They're basically small back roads that cross a small stream. Local councils have deemed bridges unnecessary because the brook is usually very shallow and these little roads attract mostly pedestrians and horseback riders, not cars. 

As hotcars.com tells us: 

"If you're on horseback, you can ride through it. Simple. Well, perhaps it's not that simple. Because there are many drivers who think it's fine for them to use it too. And for the majority of the year, it is, as the water levels of these little rivers may only be only three or four inches high during the spring, summer and autumn months. It's when we hit winter that things get interesting."

To be honest, it's sort of OK to drive through water that's three inches deep if you are 100 percent sure the road beneath hasn't been washed out or otherwise damage. I'd probably drive through Rufford Ford with my Toyota Tacoma if I knew the water was only three inches deep.

A couple weeks ago, I drove through three inch deep floodwaters on Shelburne Road in South Burlington. Me and my Tacoma survived just fine. 

The problem is that in winter, the water in Rufford Ford can be deeper than three inches. Much deeper. And shockingly, it seems thousands of people insist on driving through anyway. 

In the winter, very wet storms blow through the UK, and that little brook gets high. People are warned about their own stupidity in these cases. The local council puts up "Road Closed" signs at the entrance to Rufford Ford. 

When that happens, there's a four-mile detour. Many motorists aren't having these detours.

So they plow into the water, with predictable results. Cars get stuck, float away or just die.  Rufford Ford becomes a bit of a tourist attraction when the water is high. Judging from the videos, people gather at the ford and watch cars splash into the water and stall. A friendly local tows the cars out of the drink. The crowds  cheer and applaud the whole thing.  Frankly, it's great entertainment. 

It's mind blowing to watch some of these videos to see a car stuck in that Rufford Ford water, and then what does the next motorist do? Plow right into the water, despite the hints screaming at them not to do it. What the hell?

Tom Sutherland records all of these Rufford Ford fails, and posts them on YouTube. Sutherland makes bank, big time. His channel has more than 21,400 subscribers. Each of his videos ends up having tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of views. It's really on the same level as the 11'8" bridge videos from North Carolina, where hapless truck drivers try and fail to fit under a low bridge crossing. 

(They raised that bridge by eight inches but truck drivers continue to shear off the tops of their vehicles trying to squeeze under it). 

Apparently, quite a few other YouTubers do the same thing as Sutherland. Like I said, it's become a tourist attraction. 

Here's one video from the Rufford Ford collection. It's a compilation of the best fails and attempts in the past year. It's amazing how many stupid people there are. Click on this link to view, or watch by click on the image below.  

Flash Flood Season: Huge, Abrupt Torrents Seem To Be Popping Up Everywhere

Severe flash flooding in India this week  Seems like these
floods are popping up incredibly frequently this week.

 Despite widespread drought in some parts of the Northern Hemisphere, as always there are spots that are too wet. 

Droughts seem worse these days with climate change, but so do the rain storms. 

Flash floods are popping up seemingly everywhere.  Monday was just one very busy example.

Just in the past day or so, some real troublesome inundations have occurred in India, in England, especially around London, in Japan, and in the northeastern United States.

It's even possible a few spots in Vermont could get into the flash flood act later this week. More on that in a moment.

First, as they say, the news:

INDIA

Monsoon rains triggered huge flash floods in hilly parts of India this week. Social media is full of videos depicting cars being swept away as water, mud and rocks roar through towns and villages.  The videos show houses and buildings collapsing or 

At least one person has died in the flooding and roughly a dozen are missing.  Lightning accompanying the storms was less destructive, but far more deadly.  Reports indicate around 40 Indians have died this week from being struck by lightning.

ENGLAND

Torrential rains swept through parts of southeastern England, including London on Monday, dumping two inches of rain in very short periods of time. Streets quickly went under water.

London Fire Brigade fielded more than 1,000 flood-related calls, the BBC reported. 

Many homes were badly damaged by flooding, including that owned by Brian May, guitarist for the group Queen.

At least 120 people were put up in hotels after flooding made homes uninhabitable.  Streets were blocked by floodwaters, and trains stopped running due to water on the tracks. Water poured down stairs into parts of the London Tube. Yeah, quite a mess.

JAPAN

Japan is already reeling from a dramatic flash flood and mud slide last week that killed 9 people and left 20 missing at last check.  New flooding hit Monday.  This time it wasn't quite as bad, but the media center for the upcoming Summer Olympics flooded.

UNITED STATES:

A flash flood emergency was declared in northeastern Philadelphia and towns to the north of there after torrential thunderstorms stalled over the region. Philadelphia had 2.42 inches of rain in just an hour. Parts of Bucks County, Pennsylvania received six to 10 inches of rain in just three or four hours.

No surprise, then, that lots of people had to be rescued from flooded cars and buildings. Probably hundreds of homes suffered damage.  

Water rescues in Pennsylvania Monday after six to 10 inches of
rain fell in under four hours in some areas.

This is just the continuation of a week of flash flooding in various parts of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States. The first half of July has been super wet there, so no surprise with the flooding. 

New York City has already had 8.5 inches of rain so far this month, which is nearly seven inches more than normal.

Today, flash flooding is a good possibility again, especially in western New York,  and in Arizona and southern Utah, where monsoon moisture is streaming in. 

VERMONT RAIN

Here in Vermont, we'll have to watch slow moving showers and thunderstorms, especially later in the week.

We have had trouble getting rain to fall in far northern Vermont, which remains on the dry side. A band of rain went through that part of the state this morning, so that helped a little.  

The further south you go in Vermont, the wetter this month  has been. Soil moisture has actually gone above normal down there, so torrential downpours, especially if they last a long time or hit the same spots over and over again, could cause local flash flooding during the rest of this week. 

There's a chance of that tomorrow, as a wave of showers and storms is expected to move through. A few storms could have torrential rain in a few spots. 

A possibly bigger risk of torrential downpours exists Friday and possibly Saturday, we'll have to wait and see on that.