Britain remained on high alert on Monday following the season’s second major storm that ravaged the country through the weekend, killing at least four and disrupting the road and rail network.
Several rail services were canceled as England and Wales fought floodwaters on Monday, following Storm Bert, which lashed Britain over the weekend with heavy rain and wind gusts of up to 80 mph.
Many areas received as much as 130 millimeters of rain fall, causing some rivers to overflow their banks and turning roads into waterways.
An 80-year-old man was reported dead after his car was swept into the water at a ford in Lancashire, northwest England, on Saturday. On the same day, another body, believed to be that of a missing dog walker, was found near the Afon Conwy river in North Wales.
Environment secretary Steve Reed told the House of Commons, “Further flooding is sadly likely over the next few days as water levels rise in slower flowing rivers such as the Severn and the Ouse,”
“The Environment Agency anticipates that any impacts should be less severe than we’ve seen in recent days.”
By late Monday, more than 130 flood alerts remained in effect across England, Wales, and Scotland.
A severe flood warning was issued for the River Nene in Northampton as water levels continued to rise, indicating potential danger to life meaning there is danger to life. Hoping to escape, people holding shopping bags filled with necessities waded through deep water Monday.
Stan Brown, 67, who has lived in the region for 25 years, stated that he had no choice but to leave, quoted AP.
He said, “I’ve got somewhere else to go but I’m one of the few,” adding “Other people have spent their life savings to buy a place there, and now they’ve got nowhere else to go.”
Certain areas of Wales like Pontypridd were severely affected, with residents using buckets to bail water over a flood wall and back into the River Taff to protect their homes. Meanwhile, two severe flood warnings for the River Monnow in southeast Wales were subsequently downgraded to standard flood warnings.
Storms can pick up more energy, increasing wind speeds as a result of climate change and warmer oceans.
Reed revealed that over the next two years, the government planned to spend 2.4 billion pounds ($3 billion) to shore up flood defenses around the country.
“Climate change will inevitably lead to more severe weather of the kind we’ve seen this weekend,” he said.