It sucks in Braunton

I couldn't choose from my photos today. They're all rubbish.
I was being a precious princess about my camera and trying to hold an umbrella, and it just would not stop raining.

Anyway it's all over the TV...

There were fire engines all over the place, coastguards, police, news vans, and people like us who just stood and stared at the strangeness of it all.

Braunton is my ancestral home. Mum was born there and her family go back as far as we can look. We all grew up there, went to school there (in fact, our old primary school is tucked away to the right in this photo) and my sister, grandmother, and my father are buried there. I now live up the hill in the next village but have strong emotional ties to the village and feel really sad. It's taken a real bashing from the weather before but never anything this bad.

I can't help feeling a lot of bad planning decisions have been taken in the past that could have been stopped and the flooding may not have been so bad.

We spoke to someone who said a woman in her nineties had to be rescued from a ground floor flat this morning and was taken for breakfast - in her pyjamas - to the local pub. I hope she's okay. I hope everyone will be okay.

Our shop in Croyde has come close to flooding a few times today but so far only a few rain leaks have got in. Unfortunately other people in the village have been deluged.

Although the water was halfway to being drained by the time we got to Caen Street in Braunton and was clear by dark, the rain has continued to fall and it looks like more flooding is inevitable. It's awful but at the same time I'm impressed by the actions of people: the coastguards and fire brigade and the locals who I hear dropped everything to go out and help others.

What else happened today? I woke up to Tess singing. She continued to sing for over an hour. After breakfast she went into the sitting room and got a piano book of carols out and made me sight-read a couple of tunes - without my contact lenses in. Richard tried to go to work and just about made it, tried to work out where the leak was coming from and gave up and came home. I was worried that the rising water would get more and more difficult to get through and he would get stranded. I spent far too long on the Internet, trying to find out what was going on and checking on flood warnings, texting, tweeting, etc...

I've indulged in a few more carols on the piano this evening - this time with my lenses in and also had a couple of sherries and am now glowing nicely (and waffling, looking at the size of this text box! I thought it was only gin that made me talk too much... )


Crossing my fingers that the rain moves away swiftly and things aren't too bad for people tonight and tomorrow.