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Going Under
- Have there been floods recently?
- Have there been other changes in the weather?
- Do you think these changes are probably because of global warming?
- How have you changed
your own behaviour to help reduce the danger?
People trying to take a train to or from the southwest of England could think they had accidentally walked into a
disaster movie. Some trains never arrived, and the people who had to watch their
homes and businesses go under water couldn’t believe that such a short rainstorm could cause so much damage.
You can understand their surprise, because Britain is famous for its wetness. Snow can cause problems, and very hot
weather causes difficulties, too – but rain?
Thousands of people had to leave their homes, and thousands more were trapped
inside their houses. Some towns in the south had floods of up to five metres.
Everyone was asking how such short rainstorms – just one hour in London, slightly longer in other places – could
have such terrible results.
In fact, the answer is partly because it all happened so quickly. Brize Norton in Oxfordshire had 121.2mm of rain
between midnight Thursday and 5pm Friday – a sixth of what it would expect for the whole year. South Yorkshire got a
month’s worth of rain in one day. It had been raining for weeks, and the ground was very wet, so as soon as you got
rainfall, you got run-off.
It isn’t just that the ground cannot absorb so much so fast – drainage systems get too full, too. “When
you design a system you have to plan for possible dangers, and generally the plans are good enough to protect our communities,”
says Professor Adrian Saul of Sheffield University. “It’s very lucky that the Victorians built the systems as
big as they did. Especially in London, they thought the city would get bigger, and that has protected London until now.”
But London’s population is now four times as big.
“Our sewers are not designed to have so much water flowing through
them,” says Nicola Savage, a spokeswoman for Thames Water. And they are not designed for the way we use them nowadays.
“We each, personally, use much more water than ever before. Also, the public often use the sewers as a rubbish bin,”
Savage adds. “People put things like babies’ nappies down the toilet. And also, we need to encourage people not
to pour fat and oil down the sink. The sewers were never designed to handle this kind of thing.”
Saul is also investigating how farmers can control the flow of water off land. If farmers plough across hills, not down them, there will be less run-off. And
carefully placed trees can help stop flooding. Also, the more animals walk over a piece of land, the harder the ground becomes,
and the less water it can absorb. Then, plants can’t grow well, and there
won’t be enough food. And if farm animals get no drinking water for 48 hours, thousands will die, and meat will cost
more.
Scientists are also investigating how each of us can help reduce a problem that, in fact, we have helped create: by
extending our houses, paving driveways, and building car parks. All this takes
away soft ground that could absorb water, and adds to the run-off into drains and rivers. And we should collect any water
that runs off the house instead of letting it go into the sewerage system. We can use rainwater to flush toilets or run washing machines. Every little helps.
Match these words from the text with their meanings.
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disaster floods results
run-off trapped
sewers flush
ploughs absorb paving
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1. kept somewhere,
like a prisoner
2. water from rivers filling the land
3. a very bad accident or serious damage
4. a system of pipes underground to carry waste water
away
5. things that happen because something else happened
6. take in liquid a little at a time
7. too much water that cannot go down into the ground
8. digs up the land in lines, using machines
9. covering (the ground) with hard material like concrete or bricks
10. to wash away with a lot of water
Fill in the blanks with the information below.
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five meters
121.2mm 5pm Friday 48 hours
Adrian Saul
one hour the Victorians four times
South Yorkshire Nicola Savage |
11. ________________ built the sewers in London.
12. The rain stopped in Oxfordshire at _______________.
13. _______________ is a professor at Sheffield University.
14. Farm animals may die if they can’t drink water
for ____________.
15. _____________ of rain fell in five hours in Brize Norton.
16. ________________gave some information from Thames Water.
17. In _______________,
it rained as much in one day as it usually rains in a month.
18. Flood water was ____________
deep in some towns in the south.
19. There are ______________as many people living in London now as when
the London sewers were built.
20. The rainstorm lasted for ______________ in London.
Are the following statements True or False?
21. People in Britain were not surprised by the floods.
22. One reason for the floods was that a huge amount of rain fell in
a very short time.
23. The sewers in London were built by Victorian engineers.
24. Farmers could help prevent flooding if they ploughed
their land up and down hill.
25. If people keep covering more land with buildings and concrete, we may see more floods in the future.
Sources:
‘About Tsunami’, viewed 3 February 2007,
<http://www.kjc.gov.my/htdocs3/english/education/seismology/whatistsunami.html>
Schlachter,
S. 2006, ‘Canary Islands Earthquake Could Trigger Monster Tsunami’, viewed 3 February 2007, <http://www.cdnn.info/news/article/a010829.html>
McAndrew, R. 2007, ‘News Lessons: Going Under’, viewed 10
March 2008, <http://www.onestopenglish.com/section.asp?catid=58223&docid=155301>
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