Dawlish a bit wet ...

[GWRrrr]

Oh dear, Dawlish a bit on the damp side.

 

[Trainguy34]

Hope everyone's ok

 

[John Webb]

I take it that's the 'Dawlish Water' overflowing after the heavy rain in that part of the UK?

 

[GWRrrr]

Looking back upstream.

 

[swt_passenger]

I take it that's the 'Dawlish Water' overflowing after the heavy rain in that part of the UK?

Yes. I expect it’s just the same as has always happened with a massive amount of rainfall in the inland catchment, and importantly nothing whatsoever to do with the sea wall modifications…

I'm sure there’ll be a number of videos showing this happening going back quite a few years.

 

[RichJF]

Amber weather warning for storms & rain in that part of the world too.

 

[brad465]

By coincidence I've just been there, and yes very wet on the ground and upstream a number of gardens flooded with residents trying to rescue items. The railway is fine there but flooding has impacted services between Newton Abbott and Paignton.

The graph below from the .gov website shows the river level; it avoided the record from November 2012 but the impact is clear: the rain gauge at the top of the catchment (Ashcombe) received 65mm with 6 hours up to 2pm, with 36mm within the last hour of that period.

Find river, sea, groundwater and rainfall levels - GOV.UK

Find river, sea, groundwater and rainfall levels in England. Check the last updated height, trend and state recorded by the measuring station.

check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk

(Image of Dawlish water river level graph today, peaking at 1.27m, 0.05m below the record level)

There is also a blanket 40mph speed restriction between Exeter and Tiverton Parkway in case of flooding.

 

[Ashley Hill]

Narrowing the outlet probably didn’t help.
Visited it this morning (Mon) as @swt_passenger says below,the outlet width hasn’t changed.

 

[swt_passenger]

Narrowing the outlet probably didn’t help.

I don’t believe they did that, if anything it’s wider. They made no changes to the cross section under the road, and that’s what keeps the level high and makes it overflow the green.

 

[BrianW]

It's a reminder of the need to monitor (and act upon) the consequences of increasingly torrential rain, like at Carmont ...

 

[dk1]

So glad I went last week for 5 days. Couldn’t have picked better in the height of summer for fabulous weather. Looks awful in the park & riverside there today

 

[GardenRail]

Global Warming

 

[Dai Corner]

If it's only gardens, a park and a small stretch of road which are flooded I'd say whatever work has been done to manage the risk has worked well.

 

[dk1]

Global Warming

Isn’t it always these days

 

[GardenRail]

Isn’t it always these days

Oh yes. Bandwagon and all that....

 

[Cowley]

Yes it was pretty biblical down here this afternoon!

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Looks like the railway is the driest bit of town!

 

[superalbs]

Looks like the railway is the driest bit of town!

Makes a change...

 

[D6130]

Yes it was pretty biblical down here this afternoon!

I was at Taunton station between 10 00 and 10 55 this morning and it was pretty biblical - possibly even apocalyptic - there too. The noise of the rain on the platform canopy roof was deafening and I was seriously concerned that the track circuits and signalling might have gone down before the arrival of my train. Luckily they didn't though!

 

[Cowley]

I was at Taunton station between 10 00 and 10 55 this morning and it was pretty biblical - possibly even apocalyptic - there too. The noise of the rain on the platform canopy roof was deafening and I was seriously concerned that the track circuits and signalling might have gone down before the arrival of my train. Luckily they didn't though!

Some friends of ours broke down in it so I went and rescued one of them plus their dogs. One of our girls lost a number plate in a flood as well. We’ll build back stronger though.

 

[sciisfun]

35mm in one hour in Exeter (about 10 miles away up the Exe for those who aren't local) and lots of flooding there as well. It has been a long time since its been this heavy, especially after a fairly long warm patch like its been. Thankfuly the worst was around low tide period, at high tide i wonder if it would have spilled out further

 

[railfan99]

Goodness. I went through Dawlish on multiple occasions mid week and it was 'dry' if I may express it that way.

 

[brad465]

"The Met office have issued a weather warning, they've told the weather not to do that again or they'll be trouble." - Hugh Dennis

 

[dangie]

Water will find its path of least resistance. Stop it going one way it’ll go another. Building flood defences is like chasing your own backside. Near me we have a housing estate built on an area which was often flooded by the River Trent. They got over this by raising the ground level prior to building the houses. Somewhere else will now get that flood water.

 

[swt_passenger]

Beach Cams man was on the case with a short video yesterday:

But here’s another video from 2012, it looks very similar:

 

[DarloRich]

Yes it was pretty biblical down here this afternoon!

Or, what we from the north east call: bit wet out. ( looked pretty awful on the weather - hopefully just a short lived autumn rain storm. Interestingly the railway looks quite dry!)

 

[bspahh]

Water will find its path of least resistance. Stop it going one way it’ll go another. Building flood defences is like chasing your own backside. Near me we have a housing estate built on an area which was often flooded by the River Trent. They got over this by raising the ground level prior to building the houses. Somewhere else will now get that flood water.

Housing estates with 10 or more which got planning permission in the last few years will have Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS). From next year, they will be mandatory for all new housing. Some developers do this by digging small but deep pits to store the flood water. Its better to have big shallow pits, as they are safer for kids and animals.

 

[uglymonkey]

I think the railway line n bridge/ embankment prevents water draining out onto the beach, as it's only got a few places with gaps to flow through so it backs up. Particularly if the road drains near the bus stops, and opposite the terrace facing the sea block or get overloaded, there is nowhere for the water to go.

 

[swt_passenger]

I think the railway line n bridge/ embankment prevents water draining out onto the beach, as it's only got a few places with gaps to flow through so it backs up. Particularly if the road drains near the bus stops, and opposite the terrace facing the sea block or get overloaded, there is nowhere for the water to go.

I don’t believe the railway viaduct prevents free drainage, unless the sea level is unusually high in which case the
sea can flow into the open area. If the Dawlish Water flow rises and runs over the road surface, (except for the kerb height), it’s then got a gradual slope designed in between pavement and the sea. The videos show the higher and much wider than normal Dawlish Water flowing fast under the viaduct, it’s not being held back.

 

[uglymonkey]

Ok, yes agree, not maybe in this situation, but have seen it "pooling" for want of a better word, on the inland side on previous occasions.