barmpot
LOTSW Fanatic
This is prompted by Marianna"s question in the hatbox and there is insufficient room there to reply.
Keighley which she mentioned has the River Aire flowing through it joined by the Rver Worth (as in Keighley and Worth Valley ....) and for initial flood watch scheme the Aire is divided into two: Gargrave - Stockbridge and Stockbridge- Fairborn Ings (near to Castleford). As there is a lot of flood plain along the river course one of those two sections is always on alert for flooding; Stockbridge is in both so it is always on alert! Stockbridge is part of Keighley which I know.
As long as retaining walls hold the main problem is rising water tables which means water can seep up through the flagstones in my dungeon. To combat this the local authority provide a pump to automatically pump out such water. It was not needed at this time. The water having come through the soil is a lot cleaner than water coming directly from a river bursting its banks. I am fortunate that my ground floor has never flooded yet, if it did there would be over a thousand properties affected as I have three feet of cellar above ground level and my power supplies are well up. But rising water table scan be a problem.
The Aire Valley is wide and the sides are gentle slopes unlike the River Calder (Todmorden, Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd) which is a much steeper sided valley so has a greater potential for flooding. The area around Holmforth is not dis-similar.
A few cellars had to be pumped out locally, often in semi rural locations but noting on the scale of 2000 when 100s of properties in Keighley were submerged under water - some as high as five feet. As stated above it was only the basement level for me. There was some flooding in 2015 after which my pump was installed. Hebden Bridge was hit in 2013 as well as 2015.
However some of the railway services I am involved with had to be cancelled because the water was above the rails in some rural areas. Previous floods in Keighley were 1947 and some time in the 1930s - both due to an error in opening a sluice gate.
Keighley which she mentioned has the River Aire flowing through it joined by the Rver Worth (as in Keighley and Worth Valley ....) and for initial flood watch scheme the Aire is divided into two: Gargrave - Stockbridge and Stockbridge- Fairborn Ings (near to Castleford). As there is a lot of flood plain along the river course one of those two sections is always on alert for flooding; Stockbridge is in both so it is always on alert! Stockbridge is part of Keighley which I know.
As long as retaining walls hold the main problem is rising water tables which means water can seep up through the flagstones in my dungeon. To combat this the local authority provide a pump to automatically pump out such water. It was not needed at this time. The water having come through the soil is a lot cleaner than water coming directly from a river bursting its banks. I am fortunate that my ground floor has never flooded yet, if it did there would be over a thousand properties affected as I have three feet of cellar above ground level and my power supplies are well up. But rising water table scan be a problem.
The Aire Valley is wide and the sides are gentle slopes unlike the River Calder (Todmorden, Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd) which is a much steeper sided valley so has a greater potential for flooding. The area around Holmforth is not dis-similar.
A few cellars had to be pumped out locally, often in semi rural locations but noting on the scale of 2000 when 100s of properties in Keighley were submerged under water - some as high as five feet. As stated above it was only the basement level for me. There was some flooding in 2015 after which my pump was installed. Hebden Bridge was hit in 2013 as well as 2015.
However some of the railway services I am involved with had to be cancelled because the water was above the rails in some rural areas. Previous floods in Keighley were 1947 and some time in the 1930s - both due to an error in opening a sluice gate.