The Meteorological Office, the Met Office to you and me, has issued an Amber Warning for rain along the Marches from midday tomorrow, Saturday. We are used to rain here. There has been a Yellow Warning for rain in place since yesterday. And you don’t need a warning to know it is wet out there.
Today’s Amber Warning is more serious. We are promised a deluge of rain from midday Saturday until 6am on Sunday. At the moment river levels are low for the time of year so we are not yet expecting flooding from the Corve and Teme. But we all know how unpredictable these rivers can be, especially if drains back up into the streets.
I have asked Shropshire Council to drop sandbags in Lower Corve Street and Temeside as a precaution.
The Met Office predicts many places will see 25-50 mm of rainfall, with up to 70-90mm expected over higher ground of Wales. This could particularly affect the Teme but high rain in Corvedale will also affect the Corve.
There are no flood warnings currently in place and river levels in Ludlow are quite low. We are not expecting river flooding. But it would be wise if the usual precautions such as flood gates are put in place overnight on Saturday.
As so often our biggest danger may be localised flooding from water backing up from the rivers. Or flash flooding because the town’s drainage system can’t cope with a sudden deluge of water.
Update: New Road
There is a broken storm drain on New Road. Shropshire Council worked on this Friday afternoon to prevent housing being flooded. The pipe was jetted out and green dye put down the drain to check the problem had been correctly identified and the drain was clear. It is Severn Trent Water’s responsibility to deal with this but the council did the work as we are facing an Amber Warning for rain. The council’s highways team will discuss a full repair STW first thing Monday. It makes sense for STW to do the work while they are working in New Road.
