Rain, train and gasoline woes put Britain on brink of crisis

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RAIN, TRAIN AND GASOLINE WOES PUT BRITAIN ON BRINK OF CRISIS

By Ray Moseley Tribune Foreign Correspondent November 11, 2000 LONDON -- Most British television newscasts in the last two weeks have opened with variants of the same scene: a reporter in rubber boots, standing in knee-high water in the middle of an English town or village, with scenes of devastation all around.

The worst storms in a century, which have left wide areas of England and Wales flooded, are just part of a tale of woe afflicting the British. At the same time, much of the national rail system has ground to a halt, and may not be fully restored until spring. On top of that, fuel protesters who blockaded refineries in September and left millions without gasoline are on the march again.

The floods and rail shutdowns are the more serious developments, and no end is in sight to either. Friday was a rare day without rain in much of Britain, but more downpours were forecast for several days starting Saturday, adding to the threat from swollen rivers.

Thousands of people have had to be evacuated from their homes and given emergency shelter in Yorkshire, the British Midlands, Wales and Kent, the worst-affected areas.

Many others have elected to stay in their homes, moving to upstairs rooms while water often mixed with raw sewage swirls through ground-floor rooms.

Some parts of Sussex have been drenched with more than 20 inches of rain since Sept. 14, almost four times the normal rainfall. Throughout England and Wales, the average has been almost 15 inches--one of the highest totals for this period in almost 300 years.

The River Ouse in Yorkshire peaked earlier this week at 17 feet above normal, the highest level since records began. As one indication of the severity of flooding, a seal was found 25 miles from the sea in Yorkshire.

Officials said the problem of flooding has been aggravated by the fact that, since people began moving out of urban areas in the 1980s, developers have often ignored flood risks and built too near rivers. Many people are now left with homes whose value has plummeted, making them virtually unmarketable.

On Friday, severe flood warnings were issued for four southern England rivers. One affected what is known as "Millionaires' Bank" on the River Thames near Maidenhead, where many wealthy people live.

Some environmental groups contend the floods are a result of extreme weather patterns provoked by global warming. Prince Charles, who often speaks out on scientific subjects, despite a lack of scientific training, has joined this chorus--prompting a rebuke from one leading scientist who suggested the prince didn't know what he was talking about.

The government has announced a package of $73 million in aid to local councils to help improve flood defenses in England. More funding is planned for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The government also is picking up the costs of repairing damaged homes that are not covered by insurance.

The crisis in the rail system began last month with a derailment north of London that left four people dead and has resulted in an emergency program to replace damaged or broken rails. Flooding has made matters worse, both preventing many trains from running and delaying repairs.

Millions of commuters and other travelers have been left stranded, and forced to take to their cars or stay at home. Others have had their trips delayed by many hours.

Prime Minister Tony Blair ordered the industry on Thursday to "bust a gut" to end the chaos. He is believed to be shooting for completion of repair work before Easter, which may be close to the date for a general election.

But Railtrack, the privatized company that owns the rail network, said it could not speed up the repairs because of a shortage of skilled workers and the need to keep trains running.

Since last month's derailment, Railtrack has checked 3,000 sites and imposed speed restrictions in 500 places that have not yet been certified as being safe. It needs to replace 250 miles of track.

At the height of the storms, which produced winds up to 90 m.p.h., nearly 1,000 uprooted trees blocked rail lines or brought down overhead cables.

Gerald Corbett, head of Railtrack, said half the national network was paralyzed by flooding or speed restrictions, and some rail companies were unable to operate even an emergency timetable.

The least of the government's current worries is the fuel protest, led by long-haul truck drivers and farmers demanding that the British government reduce what is Europe's highest level of gasoline and diesel taxes.

The protesters nearly paralyzed the country in September by blockading refineries and causing gasoline stations to shut down. But since then, the government has drawn up tough measures to prevent a repeat of such action, including possible confiscation of trucks.

As a sop to the protesters, the government also has announced a cut in vehicle taxes for trucks and small cars and has offered a 4-cent cut in taxes on ultra-low-sulfur gasoline, which increases the effectiveness of catalytic converters.

http://chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/article/0,2669,SAV-0011110123,FF.html

Protest organizers have rejected these measures as inadequate, but their movement seems to have run out of steam.

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), November 11, 2000


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