Local MP Steve Brine has been working flat out with local agencies and residents as serious flooding hit the village of Kings Worthy.
After spending the morning in central Winchester where water levels remain extremely high, Steve took the Environment Agency and officers from Hampshire's Emergency Planning team to the Springvale area of Kings Worthy yesterday (Friday 7 February 2014) as flood waters came off farmland adjacent to Lovedon Lane bringing huge volumes of water onto the road and cascading down Springvale Road itself.
The MP has received urgent correspondence from constituents about the road at the junction of Lovedon Lane/Springvale Road and promised residents he would bring senior agency officials to see the situation on the ground. They spent around 45-minutes seeing the conditions and talking with local residents.
Steve says; "The Springvale area of Kings Worthy is being hit very hard by these floods, and while there is no way at the moment to fully deal with the sheer volume of water coming off the fields adjacent to Lovedon Lane, we wanted the road closed to stop even more water being pushed towards the King Charles Pub and nearby homes in Kings Close and for the safety of drivers, especially after dark. I and residents, including the King Charles Pub, were very pleased to see the road closed early evening on Friday.
"The authorities responded slowly but that was not unexpected given the pull on their response teams from across the entire county. The sand bags they brought Friday evening were also welcome and gave residents some comfort from what is a terrifying experience."
On Saturday morning (8 February 2014) Steve Brine was contacted by residents in Springvale Road and in Headbourne Worthy near the Good Life Garden Centre about the possible closure of Springvale Road where large volumes of water were causing 'bow waves' towards homes. By Saturday lunchtime partial road closures on Springvale Road were in place to protect homes.
Steve also spoke on Friday to the Managing Director of Stagecoach Bus (Andrew Dyer) to prepare the way in terms of diverting the 'Spring' bus route during the road closures
The MP added that has already set in train already preparations for a post-flood round-table with all the agencies concerned, residents and the parish council in Kings Worthy to learn lessons from the management of the current flooding.
Pictured (top); Steve Brine MP chatting with EA officials outside the King Charles Pub which remains open for business and with Thatcher Paul Hurst helping with sand-bag effort to protect homes.
Emergency contacts ...
If you are worried, or in an emergency over the weekend, simply click here to access support from Emergency Planning
If you prefer to call, you should call 999, ask for POLICE and then ask to be put through to the Hampshire Response Working Team which brings together Highways and Emergency Planning team. You can email epoffice@hants.gov.uk