Better news for some of the branch lines in Cornwall.
But the main coast line looks set to be closed for some time, and
there aren't even replacement bus services because of the state of the
roads.
PA has more of what Cameron told PMQs after announcing that £100m for tackling the floods.
Mr Cameron also told MPs that the government would meet in full local
councils' claims for funding under the Bellwin Scheme, which provides
compensation to areas facing exceptional costs from flooding.
The claim period has been extended to the end of March to recognise
the ongoing problems, he said, and action would be taken to ensure badly
hit Cornwall would not miss out.
Its status as a unitary authority had raised concerns that it would have to spend huge sums before becoming eligible for help.
Town hall chiefs say the entire Bellwin Formula is outdated and must be reformed.
Labour leader Ed Miliband told the Commons: "Many of those affected
feel the fovernment's response has been slow and that more could have
been done sooner."
Trev Hunt has footage of debris left by the tide on the streets of
Chiswell. It appears to have been filmed while the flood siren was being
sounded.
In the last Parliament MPs estimated that the cost of re-routing the south-west coast line inland would be £100m.
In a debate in 2010 Anne Marie Morris, the MP for Newton Abbot, said Network Rail spent an estimated £500,000 each year maintaining the line.
She said:
The main challenge is this: as a coastal line, it is inevitably
affected by erosion and a rise in sea level. The line follows 13 miles
of tidal water, four of which are aligned with or cross open sea. The
Met Office prediction is that sea levels will rise by 0.32 metres over
the next 100 years. That may seem a lot, and we need to plan now because
of the consequences.
Another factor needs to be taken into
account. The Minister may know that the UK is on a tilt: the south-west
is tipping into the sea, and the north-east is going the other way and
rising out of the sea. As a consequence, the south-west is sinking by
between 5 mm and 10 mm a decade. We need to consider what has to be done
sooner rather than later.
I have discussed the problem with
Network Rail, the body responsible for maintaining the line. It is more
than happy-it believes that it is viable-to continue investing £500,000 a
year to ensure that the sea wall remains rugged and fit for purpose.
However, when looking forward to 2025, it believes that more investment
will be required. If we are to make that further investment, we need to
consider its quantum and what sort of disruption would be caused to
local businesses, tourists and commuters, as we need to manage the
process in a sensible way.
Southern England is "stuck" in a "storm factory" according to Dr Rob
Thompson, a meteorologist at the University of Reading. In an email he
warns there is no end in sight to the weather pattern that has caused so
much disruption this winter. He said:
This
pattern of weather, with a constant conveyor belt of Atlantic storms
hitting southern Britain, shows no sign of abating yet. It’s caused by
conditions in the North Atlantic where warm, moist air from the tropics
is coming up unusually close to very cold polar air. This clash of air
masses is effectively a storm factory, causing twisting, rotating
weather systems to form before being fired eastwards at Britain by a
strong jet stream.
It’s not uncommon for weather patterns in
Britain to get ‘stuck’ as they have been in recent weeks. Lots of
weather research is currently focusing on why winter storms tend to
cluster together like London buses. This current cluster seems to be
going on particularly long though, and is unprecedented for the south of
England. With more bad weather predicted for Friday and Saturday the
storm factory is running at full pelt and doesn’t look like going out of
business just yet.
The Environment Agency says it does not expected the next high tide
on the south coast to be as damaging as the one this morning.
Speaking to my colleague Adam Vaughahn, a spokesman said:
The high tide this morning caused some impact, particularly around
Dawlish. We are now waiting for the next high tide, which will be at
around 5pm.
We don't think it will be as extreme as the one this
morning. We have a band of rain coming in now which could see some
impact, particuarly in Somerset.
We are currently checking damage
done by the wave action, making sure emergency repair work is done,
making sure flood defences can stand up to any further wave action.
Cameron pledges £100m to tackle floods
An extra £100m will be spent over the next year tackling the
aftermath of the devastating floods that have hit Britain, David Cameron
has announced.
Some £75m will fund repairs, £15m will go on
maintenance and £10m has been earmarked for "urgent work" in
Somerset, the Prime Minister said.
Cameron is to chair a meeting of Cobra - the civil contingencies committee that leads responses to national crises.
At Prime Minister's questions, he told MPs: "Whatever is required,
whether it is dredging work on the rivers Tone and Parrett, whether it
is support for our emergency services, whether it is fresh money for
flood defences, whether it is action across the board, this Government
will help those families and get this issue sorted."
Thirty people had to be evacuated from their homes in Dawlish, according to Councillor John Clatworthy.
Speaking to PA he said:
People had to be evacuated when the sea wall went and the track was breached.
There were about 30 people who had to leave their homes. To be
honest, I have been here for 44 years and we haven't had storm damage
like we have now.
The railway was built in around the 1850s and there had been two
breaches before now, around 150 years ago. The storm last night was
unbelievable.
It is not just Dawlish that is affected, this
railway line is to Plymouth, the naval bases, Cornwall - it is a
lifeline.Something needs to be done and it is not just a five minute
job.
Steven Morris has been talking to evacuees in Dawlish:
Flood defence balks protecting the Cornish fishing town of
Porthleven have been smashed, according to my colleague Matt Hall whose
parents live there.
He writes:
The
balks are used to close the inner harbour entrance when there's a
storm. They have been in place for the last week, preventing any fishing
boats from going out. But they have been smashed by the storm, meaning
that the boats inside the harbour are unprotected, and at least half
dozen have sunk. These baulks have apparently been in use since the
harbour was built in 1858.
There are also two cannons that
guard the harbour entrance. One has been displaced by the storm and is
reported to about to fall into the harbour.
Fishermen
and the emergency services are battling to remove boats from
Porthleven’s inner harbour this morning in a bid to save them from
sinking.
The power of the waves has already seen the balks (large pieces of wood) fail between the inner and outer harbour.
It means that the waves are now rolling through the normally protected inner harbour – and the boats sheltering in there.
Six or seven boats have already been sunk as a result and now a rescue bid is on to save others from the clutches on the sea.
One
of the port’s historic cannons, close to the Ship Inn, is also
teetering perilously close to the edge of the harbour, having been
dragged there by the gale force winds.
Local councillor Andrew Wallis tweets the scene.
A man and woman walk along the seafront as
waves break over the harbour wall at Porthcawl in Wales. Photograph:
Matthew Horwood/Getty ImagesDebris sits in a swollen river in Dawlish,
where high tides and strong winds have created havoc disrupting road and
rail networks and causing damage to property. Photograph: Ben
Birchall/PAA huge waves break over the railway in Dawlish. Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA
Here's a summary of the latest developments:
• Winds of
more than 90mph, heavy rain and high tides prompted the Environment
Agency to issue nine severe flood warnings in the south west of England. More homes have been evacuated in the flood-stricken Somerset Levels.
• The Met Office has issued amber "be prepared" warnings for much of southern England because of the high winds and heavy rain. Wind speeds of more than 90mph were recorded overnight in the Scilly isles and parts of Devon saw more than 30mm of rain. • A 30m stretch of the seawall in Dawlish has been swept away leaving the main south-west rail line dangling over the sea. Rail services west of Exeter are likely to face weeks of disruption. MPs have called for the line to be rerouted.
• David
Cameron is to chair a meeting of the Cobra emergency committee for the
first time this year to discuss ways of tackling the floods and the
aftermath of the latest storm. So far this year the meeting have been chaired by the under-fire environment secretary Owen Paterson.
• High winds overnight left 44,000 people in the south-west without power. By morning Western Power Distribution said all but 5,000 homes had now been reconnected.
• Elsewhere,
flood warning sirens were sounded again in Chiswell on the Dorset coast
and another chunk of the Brighton's West Pier was swept away. The local MP in Newbury said flooding was approaching 2007 levels.
The Guardian's Steven Morris has made it to a makeshift evacuation centre in Dawlish.
The council is offering sandbags.
Updated
The Met Office has updated its warnings for high winds and heavy rain.
Alison Seabeck, the Labour MP for Plymouth, is calling on the
transport secretary to hold an urgent meeting with all MPs of
constituencies cut off by the rail closure.
Teignbridge council, which covers Dawlish, says 30m of seawall has been washed away in the town. A view of some of the damage on the sea wall
railway in Dawlish, causing damage, where high tides and strong winds
have created havoc in the Devonshire town disrupting road and rail
networks and damaging property. Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA
Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw, a former environment minister in the last
Labour government, has called for the main railway line to Cornwall to
be rerouted away from the coast.
Speaking to BBC news he said
the government needed to increase spending on infrastructure to meet
the challenge of the impact of climate change. He said he supporter
calls to move the coast line in land.
In the short term Bradshaw
said: "The government really needs to get a grip on the need to improve
our existing transport. We in the south west have now been cut off two
years in a row. It has a devastating impact on our economy."
He
said if the rail line could not be repaired quickly it would cause far
more economic damage than the current tube strike in London.
"In
the long run if we want to maintain a proper railway service down to
Plymouth, down to Cornwall, to keep those economies going, we are going
to have to look at rerouting that line away from the sea at Dawlish,
because these events are becoming more and more regular."
Updated
Devon and Cornwall police says it is dealing with a "large amount of
calls relating to road debris, damage to property and flooding,"
including damage to the track and railway station at Dawlish.
In a statement it said:
Police
would ask anyone planning to travel to Dawlish in order to look at the
scene to refrain and allow responders to do everything possible to help
local residents. People are also asked to stay away from coastal areas
where waves may well cause damage to vehicles. In Plymouth The Hoe is
experiencing large waves and damage to some properties. We are currently
working with the local authority to make the area as safe as possible.
Cornwall saw damage and debris overnight and remains in recovery this
morning. There remains a host of minor road closures throughout the
region due to road debris and fallen trees. Motorists are warned to
expect the unexpected on rural roads and drive according to road
conditions. Flood water should also be avoided and speeds should be
lowered on the region’s main road network.
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