Floods

[Bill Morrison]

When it came to constructing roads, these guys were ahead of the game 2000 years ago. The modern roads departments could learn from them.
Bill

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi Bill.
Went home for a trip in the 90s, across the road from my sisters place they were building a new house, beneath was a perfect Roman road entering what had been a small arena, they didn't inform the Council as the house building would have been stopped, and after all with 500 castles in Wales what was one more artefact.
Des

[happy daze john in oz]

In the mid lands of Victoria we have two small towns, Rochester and Elmore.
Between is what was a at one time a lake, now just an empty dust bowl.
Why you may ask is ity empty.

Well the Greens convinced the Labor state gov that it was wrong to allow the lake to be used by yachties and surf riders, so it was drained.
Now the river close by has burst it's banks and the locals want the water diverted to the old lake.
So far not a squeak from the gov.

But we have a state erection in a few weeks and labor need the Green preferences to stay in gov, odd that !!!!!

[James Curry]

I watched a programme last night about the lake district and why the likes of Carlise city are prone to flooding. Reason is a lot of rivers have been re engineered. Were a river would have meandered along following what has been it's natural course. A few bright sparks decided to straighten the river course. So rivers run faster than they would normally have done. By straightening the river, natural bends have been removed. If the river did over flow it did so in a field were the banks had naturally eroded and that became a flood plain. This had the advantage of depositing nutrients on the fields. Now in a lot of areas we get flash floods because there is nothing to slow the flash flood down.

[happy daze john in oz]

We have a major flood here in West Melbourne.
River has burst it's banks on the low side, some 100 houses in a bad way.

Similar happened in 1993 and the Labor gov of the day said they would build a levee to prevent it again.

Must be taking the scenic route as it is still not there.

[j.sabourn]

Think you will soon be using punts John. Good time to get your master 5. Could then go into business with passengers on that scenic route. JS

[James Curry]

We have a major flood here in West Melbourne.
River has burst it's banks on the low side, some 100 houses in a bad way.

Similar happened in 1993 and the Labor gov of the day said they would build a levee to prevent it again.

Must be taking the scenic route as it is still not there.

John why is it always the fault of a Labor government? think the other crowd seem to fall short as well.

The Liberal Party lost government in 1982 to the Australian Labor Party (ALP) led by John Cain, whose father was Premier in the 1950s. He was succeeded by Joan Kirner, Victoria's first female Premier.

The ALP held office until 3 October 1992. It was defeated by the Liberal Party in coalition with the Nationals, led by Jeff Kennett.

At the September 1999 election the ALP, led by Steve Bracks, regained office. The ALP was re-elected in 2002 and 2006. John Brumby was elected Premier after the retirement of Steve Bracks in 2007.

After 11 years in government, the ALP was defeated by the Liberal Party and the Nationals in coalition. Ted Baillieu was Premier until he stood down in 2013. Denis Napthine then became Premier.

The ALP regained office at the 2014 election, making Daniel Andrews Victoria's 48th Premier. Since 1955 the government has changed hands five times.

[happy daze john in oz]

Yes and we had some of the worst govs ever,
Cain left the state in a state of bankruptcy, he refused to allow any increase in utility prices but allowed some very big pay rises for the workers in such.
Got involved in a 'Pyramid' style funding scheme which cost not only the gov but many, many citizens a fortune.

Bracks allowed a desal plant to be built, one of the biggest rorts ever in this state.
Cost billions and is still not working as it should.
Son of a very good friend worked on it as a sparky and made a fortune.
But as he told us, problems will come, and they did, as most of the electrical pumps were of second standard.
Between the company who built it and the unions demands three could have been built.

Then Bracks took to the railways and shut down lines that in some instances were the only transport means in some regions.

The railway to the airport had been started by Kennett, but the taxi drivers got at Bracks and it was shelved, will now be completed by 2030.
Western Oz with a Labor gov has built on in just a few years.
So we are well aware of the failings of all sides of gov, but here in Victoria the Liberals have always been proactive on major projects.
The current Labor gov claims it was their idea to remove 52 level crossings.
Fine but the previous one, Liberal, had begun that process with the first three already done.

Further to that, Cain handed over to Kirner because he knew he was onto a hiding at the next election, nurses on strike, public transport on strike, similar with Bracks when he handed over to Brumby, handing over to a man with good ideas but who was given a poison chalice by Bracks.

[James Curry]

John sounds as if Australia as up the same tish creek with out a paddle as the UK currently is.

[Rodney Mills]

The flood I remember was in 1953, I was 15 and had left school and while waiting for my 16 birthday and the M.N.. I had a job as a messenger boy at Corryton Oil Refinery being built on Canvey Island, in Essex. 7am on a Sunday morning my step-dad and I were woken up by police car speakers telling all Corryton workers to report to their bus stops for pick-up to go to work.

Ther was a really high tide coming into the Thames Estuary and floods coming down the Thames and coming together in the Corryton/Gravesend area.

All adult employees were working sandbagging dikes to hold back the expected flood. Boys like me were employed for minimal bagging, mostly relaying messages and making and serving tea.

Corryton was being built by British construction companies for an American oil company. We got paid overtime rates for the Sunday and the owners gave a two-pound bonus to the adults in cash in there pay-packets and boys got a pound. I was so flushed with money I could have fainted. I made 2 pounds a week for five days, less stoppages, (Tax, health, union dues). I later got the magnificent sum 9 pound ten a month as a catering boy.

Cheers, Rodney