Jesse
calls for volunteer flood 
HEREFORD’S
would-be MP Jesse Norman has called for volunteer “flood squads”
to be set up across the county.
The Tory hopeful spent much of his Saturday wading through ankle
deep water in Newtown Road,
Hereford, where he was helping swamped householders.
Now he wants to see that kind of effort made official with parish
and neighborhood flood squads on standby whenever rivers or watercourses
threatened to spill over.
Flood squad volunteers could be trained to civil defense standards
and serve as a first response and
point of contact for both local people and the emergency services.
They would also mobilize to put up basic flood defaces like sand
bagging and help with clean up work, said Mr Norman.
“But the authorities also need to take a more comprehensive look
at flood protection throughout the county.
There’s rightly been a lot of
focus on the rivers, but the threat from smaller watercourses has
shown itself to be just as great,” he said.
Jesse Norman helps out with the sandbag defense in Newtown Road,
Hereford.
A Awash: Newrown Road, Hereford,
Copy from © hereford times july 2007
