Hull Flood Aid - What's It All About? (1/2) By Michelle Dee

(1/2), (2/2).

Once again the local music community is gearing up to stage a music event in the city of Hull. After the floods that have left many homeless resulted in hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of property damage and caused severe disruption to schools. Many local businesses will record losses due to flood affected premises and damaged stock. There was a need for a significant injection of cash into the city before the recent flooding but now the need is far greater and more urgent.

An initial sum has been allocated by the new PM Gordon Brown to meet the immediate needs of the flood affected families and as I understand it to put the infrastructure in place to get our kids back to school as soon as possible.

Last week, during the evening edition of Look North Peter Levy spoke with ex-Deputy PM John Prescott who spoke about the need to find the financial cost of the damage (I haven't quoted any figures because they seem to change on a daily basis) then to sit down and work out the best way to distribute the funds to reach those most in need, in the shortest possible time. During this exchange the question was raised as to whether the council should use the monies from the sale of KC shares in May to help the flood affected communities. It was pointed out that the interest on the sum total alone, would be equal to the recent figure put forward from central govt.

Many people in this city would say that the situation the city and surrounding areas found itself in two weeks ago is a result of our council being negligent and more concerned with personal and private gain, rather than putting in the basic infrastructure like drainage systems that work. How many times over the last year have you heard someone say the drains stink in Hull just after a heavy down pour?

It has been clear to the rest of the city there was a problem with the drains for quite some time but nothing was done. It was said that on the day of the flood the pumping station on Hedon road wasn't working properly and this added to the problems.

It has also been said by Councillor Minns that the recent weather was unprecedented, which led to so many homes, businesses and people being affected. This is questionable; first of all considerable warning was given by the Met. Office that severe weather was on its way, flood warnings were issued and then not acted upon by the council. Why were the armed services not out delivering sandbags beforehand to all the homes and businesses in low lying areas? I would suggest that this country doesn't have the capacity now, to mobilise sufficient numbers of service men and women due to more and more troops being sent to fight America's wars.

It is also true that this council is far more concerned with big showy ideas and schemes (supposedly to raise our profile in the rest of the country); such as large television screens - which was redundant for days after the flood - St. Stephens Square development - do we need another shopping mall filled with fashion stores and coffee bar chains? Then there is the development and regeneration of the Marina which could result in losing the market and community feeling built out of hundreds of years of trading.

We have all heard stories of people being trapped upstairs without basic amenities for days after the floods, we know of people who have lost all everything they own, we also know that many people were not insured and those that were may not be able to receive money from their claims for months to come (you are urged to take photos of the damage to back up your claims so fair assessments can be made).

Now there is a rush on rented properties in the city and some unscrupulous landlords are hiking up the rent. Lives have been disrupted due to children being off school and working parents facing the problems of continuing to work and finding care provision for them.

Continued .... Next Page (2/2)

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