ian Broughall's page

Severn Trent Water warned all residents in Gloucester, Cheltenham and Tewkesbury would lose their supply on Monday due to a treatment works being flooded, and the situation is expected to last several days.  Parts of Worcestershire were under 6ft of water and the Army has been deployed to help emergency services provide supplies to people in Upton-upon-Severn.  Warwickshire and Berkshire have also been badly affected and residents at risk of flooding in Oxford were told to leave their homes because water levels were expected to rise.  Some homes in Oxford, Abingdon, Kidlington and Bladon have already been flooded and conditions were expected to deteriorate overnight.  The Association of British Insurers has said the total bill for the June and July floods could reach at least £2bn.

The Severn: Severe warnings for Gloucester, Tewkesbury and Worcester

The Thames: Severe warnings affecting Eynsham to Sandford Lock and also Little Wittenham

The Ock: Severe warnings from Charney Bassett to Abingdon

The Great Ouse: Severe warnings from Turvey to Sharnbrook

The Environment Agency said water levels on both rivers had exceeded those of devastating floods in 1947.  Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he would set up a review of the crisis. He flew by helicopter over Gloucestershire, the worst-affected county, before heading to the police headquarters where the emergency response is being co-ordinated. The review would look at drainage and flood defences, while extra funding would help pay for essential emergency work in the aftermath of the crisis, Mr Brown said.  The Environment Agency said water levels on the River Severn and Thames could reach a "critical" level in some areas.  Severe flood warnings are in place for the Midlands, Oxfordshire and Bedfordshire. At their height, some rivers will be more than 20ft higher than normal.

Environment Agency spokesman Anthony Perry said: "We have not seen flooding of this magnitude before. The benchmark was 1947 and this has already exceeded it."  In March 1947, millions of pounds of damage was caused in the south of England, the Midlands, East Anglia and North Yorkshire when many rivers burst their banks.

Other main developments include:

Severn Trent Water warned all residents in Gloucester, Cheltenham and Tewkesbury - an estimated 350,000 people - would lose their supply by Monday evening due to a treatment works being flooded.

A PENTAFLOP IS:

Computer transactions done at a speed of a Thousand Trillion a second !!!

My dear friends.

I would like to set you a challenge -  who knows what this word means

PENTAFLOP

Send me your answers to:

madian57@yahoo.com

May 2007 has arrived in Cambridge with some gusto!  During April 2007 we had a total of NO RAIN and now in May - it has just not stopped raining.  It is not too bad though - because our allotment needed some water.  We have planted many vegetables there, and a neighbour gave us some peas and tomatoes to grow yesterday - so we will be self sufficient soon - but only for our veggie needs.  Much has been happening here - Cambridge University WON the Varsity Boat Race - which is good - because we usually sink - Cambridge United did NOT get relegated, and we won most of our last few games - so there was a BEER FESTIVAL to celebrate at the Abbey Stadium.  There has been a few Bank Holidays recently, and we celebrated St George's Day, and we went travelling to the Isle of Wight, Portsmouth, and Reading.  We visited our favourite Auntie Valerie in Bournemouth - and we explored the village of BROUGHTON.  Finally, I just want to remember my Father - he died 2 years ago (20 May 2005)from Bowel Cancer - RIP Dad xx

As I am writing this, the sun is shining through the window, and there is also a rainbow - because this is Springtime in England, so that means that it is also raining.  The weather has been slowly improving here in Cambridge, although we did have the rude interruption of a snow shower a few days ago.  The Springtime in the UK is an eventful time, especially in the garden, and in this, our second Springtime in the UK, we have daffodils blooming, and brightening our days.  The days are now longer, as we have recently put the clocks forward one hour, so we are only 7 hours behind all of our friends in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore.  On the 18th of March, we celebrated Adela's OFFICIAL Birthday, and for your information - her NEXT Birthday - which is actually her real birthday - is SUNDAY 22 APRIL.  We have been travelling around a little bit, but in April we are going on a new adventure to the Isle of Wight.  We will be going there with our most favourite lady - Auntie Valerie from Bournemouth. The photographs were taken along the River Cam a few days ago.  STOP PRESS: CAMBRIDGE UNITED 7 WEYMOUTH 0

It has been quite a while since I have been able to write, and this is due to a number of things.  The first reason, and, to be honest, the main reason, is because I have not been sat at my computer very often.  We have been travelling, albeit, not too far, but we have recently been to Paddington, King's Lynn, Peterborough, Bury St Edmond's, Rushden and Hemel Hempstead.  The weather has been both hot, warm, and sunny, then we had snow.  Today is Sunday (Mother's Day) and we woke up to glorious sunshine, which then turned to dark clouds and hail, and in the afternoon, came the first, of what is forecasted to be three days of SNOW !!!  Yesterday (17 March 2007) was St Patrick's Day, and photos of the celebrations will follow, once they have been censored. Very briefly - the news about Cambridge United is that they will most probably be relegated out of the Football League Conference Division, and the reason for this is because they are rubbish and that they are just not able to win football matches.  Stay Safe, and more in April 2007.

It has been a somewhat busy time here in Caldecote, and also further afield.  The storms came across the country and brought different forms devastation - not so much to our village - but to other areas - especially in Scotland and the North of England.  During these storms a ship called 'Napoli' ran aground in Dorset and brought many people out to see what 'loot' that they could grab.  Very soon after the storms came the snow - and the winter weather DID come to see us in the East of England.  For local and family issues - I went to have my eyes tested - and the GOOD news is that they are fine - they are working and functioning properly.  I must apologise in advance to any regular visitors to this site - but the entries may become a little less frequent, and this is due to me being very busy with my new business - so please accept my HUMBLE apologies.  There is nothing new from the Abbey Stadium - Cambridge United have played SIX games and have lost SIX games - The manager is on thin ice for sure.....  The good news - SUMMER is coming

Our first Christmas back in UK has been a wonderful time, spent with our family and friends from all over the world.   Our first "event" was when we visited my Uncle Mike and Auntie Anne, who invited us to their home in Milton Keynes for seasonal food and drinks.  Very soon after that we were visited by Robin and Monet, who are our very good friends from Singapore.  Robin is a movie producer, and Monet works for Hewlett Packard.  As soon as they were gone - we then welcomed Nils and Mel - with their two boys - Jason and Kevin.  The "YoYoYo Gang" were visiting us from Holland (Singapore).  We had a wonderful time with the two boys and the girls enjoyed their Cambridge shopping trip during the "Sales".  Nils and his family left us at lunch time on the 28th Dec, and just a few hours later - Kirsty (my Daughter) and her family arrived and we enjoyed a lovely family gathering with Kevin (my Son) - and Justina (my niece) also coming to see us.  A truly wonderful, family time.  Thank You Adela xx

This is the season to be jolly – so why oh why do we have so much tick FOG around the South of England and EAST ANGLIA.  There is not really too much to write about, because as we are heading towards Christmas – I am feeling more and more like doing less and less – In fact I am almost doing NOTHING at all – hahahahaha.

Adela has (as usual) been very organised with the Christmas shopping and all the presents are under the Christmas tree – waiting for Children and Grandchildren alike.  Our social diary is – as usual – remaining busy – following the visit of Robin and Monet from Singapore – We are looking forward to a seasonal visit from Nils, Mel, Jason and Kevin – and the latter two are also known as the “YO-YO-YO boys”.   In 2007 our first visitor will be Olli-Pekka – who will be in UK on holiday in mid January.   We will continue our gymnasium fitness scheme on Monday 8th January – and let’s see where alll this takes me….  The photos are of the Christmas lights at the Cambridge market, and some snaps of the recent fog that has enveloped our region.  The black and white photo is of my next Grandchild – gender to be advised at a later date….