Last weekend, the residents of Buckhurst Hill were subject to flooding in the fields, causing havoc to the allotments, destroying the various crops that people had spent so much time caring for. The flooding was exacerbated by a lake adjacent to the Roding, which contributed to the flooding.
The flooding came as a result of several days of rainfall, which saw the fields becoming increasingly waterlogged. There was also rainfall during the night, which woke up several residents, due to its continuity. The lake had already risen, and had taken a murkier, browner colour to normal. This had also happened to the river, as its currents also became stronger, sweeping past branches and flowing under bridges and paths. When taking morning walks, my family had already noticed the fields having large puddles. Not deep ones, but still there, a visible reminder of how the fields were suffering.
And then the river and lake burst. It was during the night, so there was no live footage of it, but people woke to the field completely submerged, with the allotments also taking damage. My brother and I walked out at 1pm, to find that we could not go 100m from our house, as it the water was already a metre deep. The football courts were completely covered too, we barely made it there. We continued to go further, stumbling across the path, which is normally walked on by hundreds of people. Not today.
The allotments were covered, the water was higher than knee-deep. Any hope of recovering anything was not there. Behind them are the fields, covered by at least 1 metre of water.
Although these were floods that seemed to be bad, they happen regularly. The Environment Agency was not needed, they have not been needed for about 12 years. However, with global warming showing us how dangerous the weather can be, perhaps these floods will intensify in the future.
