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UK’s prime minister to visit flooded areas as rains subside UK’s Cameron: More money to be spent on flood defenses
(about 5 hours later)
LONDON — British Prime Minister David Cameron is set to see firsthand the devastation caused by weeks of heavy rains and swollen rivers in northern England. LONDON — British Prime Minister David Cameron put on his waterproof boots Monday and waded into controversy, challenging critics who said his government has done too little to combat flooding in northern England.
He plans to tour the region Monday as flood waters in some areas seem to have peaked, although more rain is forecast for the middle of the week. Cameron donned his “wellies” — as the British call waterproof boots — to walk the flooded streets of York, 200 miles (320 kilometers) north of London as some local leaders accused him of failing to take action.
Major cities including York, Leeds and Manchester have been affected in a wide area roughly 200 miles (320 kilometers) north of London. Areas of northern England have been inundated with torrential rains in recent weeks, and rivers have crested past their banks, leading to thousands of evacuations in villages, town and even major cities like Leeds and Manchester.
British troops have been helping emergency workers and local residents in a widespread evacuation of towns and cities. Thousands of people have lost power in recent days as the situation worsened. The devastation prompted Leeds council leader Judith Blake to complain that cities in the less prosperous north of England are victims of a north-south divide in the allocation of government’s resources.
The Environment Agency has issued 24 “severe” flood warnings — meaning lives are at risk — and several hundred less dire alerts. “We’re beginning to feel that very strongly,” she said, asserting that 2,000 homes had been flooded in Leeds alone over the weekend and some 400 businesses adversely affected.
Cameron used his visit to York to deny that the northern region is overlooked in favor of London and the affluent regions surrounding the capital.
“We spend more per head of the population on flood defenses in the north than we do in the south,” he said, vowing that expenditures would increase in the face of the increasing frequency of extreme weather events in Britain.
The flood waters have eased in many areas but forecasters say more heavy rain is expected Wednesday. The ground is heavily saturated, making the region vulnerable to fresh precipitation.
Some 500 British troops have been helping emergency workers and local residents in the widespread evacuation of towns and cities with 1,000 more on call if water levels rise.
Thousands of people have lost power in recent days.
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.