1. Raven

    Raven Banned

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    Flood-ravaged Hull 'a forgotten city'

    Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by Raven, Jul 5, 2007.

    Hull is a "forgotten city" and needs urgent help as hundreds remain homeless after the devastating floods, a council leader has claimed.

    Carl Minns, the leader of Hull City Council, has slammed the lack of attention the city has received compared with other areas and called on the Government for urgent help as the cost of the damage is estimated at as much as £200 million.

    Many residents of the 10,500 properties evacuated in the city may not be able to return home for up to a year. Around 17,000 homes have damage ranging from waterlogged gardens to belongings floating in 4ft of water.

    He said: "We are the forgotten city in this disaster. Hull has been more affected than all of South Yorkshire put together by these floods. Hull has been the hardest hit - what we are dealing with is a disaster."

    "What we have in Sheffield and Doncaster is terrible and my heartfelt sympathy goes out to those people. But their problems have been fairly localised, whereas ours is spread right across the city. Hull also needs help.

    "We are starting to rebuild but the city won't recover for around two years. The Government needs to help this city with a large injection of capital, otherwise this city will not recover."

    He added: "Quite frankly if this was Chelsea or Fulham, this would have been plastered over the front pages for weeks."

    Many people have been forced to stay with friends and relatives, sleeping on the floor or in caravans, or forced to live in hotels, he said.

    About 1,500 volunteers and council staff are on a fact-finding mission on Thursday to survey damaged properties and find out how residents' needs can be met.

    The council has already diverted £18 million from a home improvement programme for use in repairing flood-damaged homes.

    A Flood Hardship Fund has also been launched, but Mr Minns said more money is needed. Insurance companies have told some people they will have to stay away for six to 12 months for their homes to be put right.

    Mr Minns estimated the cost of damage to Hull schools at £70-100 million, with some schools unlikely to reopen until next year.

    "We're patching up and reopening as best we can but 95 per cent of schools have been affected. We're having to bus students to other schools. At one school they were finishing their GCSEs ankle deep in water."

    Torrential downpours made last month the wettest June for almost 150 years, forecasters have said. An average of 140mm of rain fell across England and Wales - twice the long-term average and the highest since 1860.
     
  2. Banzai

    Banzai One-time Mod, but on the road to recovery Contributor

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    I must admit, it hasn't been in the news much recently, though I think that is more to do with the terrorist activities of late than the other flooded cities. And I share Mr Minns' sentiments about the contrast of attentions based on location. Westminster seems content to ignore half the problems that aren't on its doorstep, and from the sound of it, Hull badly needs monetary assistance.
     

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