At last the poor people who have had home's/businesses ruined by the floods, can now hope that the worst of the bad weather is over and they can begin the mammoth task of cleaning up. What I cant understand is that when there is a major overseas disaster/flood etc, UK charities ask for donations from the UK public within a couple of days. I am not aware of any National campaign/appeal asking the UK public for funds to assist the flood victims (many of whom do not have flood insurance) I am not suggesting that huge sums of money be given to individuals, but a central fund be available to help those in most need. I appreciate some of the big 'riverside house's' on the banks of the Thames are owned by wealthy individuals, and these people may not need financial support, but there are a lot of ordinary people and small businesses who need help in Southern and Western England Rant over..
Apparently there's an EU fund setup for flood victims, but the UK government have not applied for it??? On the flip side, they're looking at suspending the council tax on flooded properties!!! dohh!
Disgusting is it not then u hear this and think WTF Disasters Emergency Committee and Oxfam rule out aid for flood victims as UK too rich | UK | News | Daily Express
^^ From what i can gather they may reduce their council tax a tad. A better option would be to divert the money we give to India and Pakistan which ends up in the back pockets of the corrupt...
The Somerset Levels areas I feel really sorry for as they are not rich / affluent areas (the farmland etc.) and the land is devastated Those with Riverside properties in London (given value etc.) should all have insurance, if you decide not to insure but have say a Plasma TV and an X-box (as examples) I'm not sure its then fair to 'expect' a charity fund to assist. Those on lower incomes where money is really tight may have to make difficult choices of how to spend their income and if they are impacted it must be heartbreaking Flood damage is vile - I think far worse than smoke damage from a fire, its a costly and lengthy process to dry a property and reinstate - flood claims are always amazingly huge (you don't want to know what is in that water that sinks into your floorboards etc. )
and what gets my goat is the small level if news about this which has been a big issue for over 2 months. and only gains momentum when it moves to the Themes. I've said it before its not nice who this happens to but does get me the arm is called in within a week or 2 of the Themes flooding. but took 5-8 weeks for Somerset to get any major help other than locals, the fire brigade etc
A sore subject that is best left alone I feel. I always feel charity starts as home but never like to see anyone is pain or suffering. AS long as the right people get what they need
I don't think everyone realises that a lot of people near/on the Thames have actually been flooded just as long as the guys in Somerset, I met people last week who got flooded on Christmas day due to the river Kennet. I spent 4 days last week between my normal work to help with the flood relief as my army reserve unit (TA) was the command post in Reading, am back onto this tomorrow for the next 7 days before going back to work! I have been amazed at the blitz like spirit of the people who have been affected and those who haven't but have helped those nearby who have been. I would like to thank all the people who have dipped hands in pockets to make tea, cakes etc for the services trying to help
Also there were catastrophic floods in Yorkshire in 2012 and the same in Humberside at the end of last year. Thousands of people evacuated from their homes. Where was the big media uproar and talk of public donations for the victims??? Nowhere because it's ooop Norf and nobody south of Nottingham gives a flying you-know-what. Moral of the story is that nobody gives a cr*p and reacts unless it's happening on their doorstep.
SPS poor media coverage is to blame there. and agree any major floods then something needs to be done be it up north or South.
With regards to the billions of pounds the UK sends abroad in foreign aid every year yet it seems we struggle to keep our own people safe. Some would argue the very fact we do send billions abroad is what does keep our own people/country safe.
We should look after our own before anybody else, we are always trying to fix somebody else's country and political problems that we never seem to have time for our own
The Company I work for has opened up one of their warehouses to FLAG for donations of food, clothing etc... I was there yesterday when an elderly lady turned up opened the boot of her car and started producing Brand new Toasters, Microwaves, Childs Toys, Bedding etc etc, she'd just blown all her Pension on this, I felt both ashamed of myself and moved by her generosity, throughout the day I witnessed normal everyday people donating what they could afford. Only one local company (Asda) have donated anything, where are the other supermarket chains and business's ...... ???
Tesco's has donated a lot of sandbags in this area and also food for the troops By a lot I mean tens of thousands of sandbags
We changed our household insurance a few months ago from a 'staff' account from a large China based banking corporation to whoever else could offer the same coverage. The first three turned us down flat because of our postcode. Sinister knock-ons going forward mean that the vulnerable are being denied protection. It's not just us though that suffer feet of clay when disaster strikes home. I have a friend in New Orleans, where it still looks like a zombie apocalypse movie all these years after Hurricane Katrina. Foreign aid is merely posturing to maintain a world political presence. Any altruistic reasoning lies in the hands of relief organisations rather than government based programmes, and to be honest, even then I'm not overly certain of the motives of many of them. I am a serial cynic however.
It's not just you, Ken. Sadly I just don't believe that people are actually THAT good. People generally don't do anything that benefits anyone else with no thought of reward for themselves. Even people who give to charidee very often do so at least partly out of a desire to be seen to be doing good and to bask in the self-congratulatory glow of being such a nice person. As you say New Orleans is a f*cking disgrace. The only reason it's been left like that is because it's home to poor folk. Predominantly black poor folk. If the catastrophic flooding had happened in Manhattan it would've been sorted within months because that's where rich WASPs live.
Probably gonna upset some people here but i feel very strongly about this. All these adverts to send money to areas with starving kids make my blood boil..if you cannot feed yourself dont bring kids into the world to suffer starvation. They should have charities to provide free contraception,but as some religions dont believe in contraception,they must take some of the blame for the suffering.
