Displaying items by tag: peatlands

More rain is falling on flood-hit communities, adding to fears that rising river levels might overwhelm flood defences. By 20 February 1,400 homes and businesses were affected by floods following Storm Dennis, and 120 flood warnings remained in place, including six severe or danger-to-life one. Rivers are recording their highest-ever levels. Pray for the residents who are crying out for more to be done to stop repeat flooding. After 2015’s floods millions were invested in river flood defences. A Calder Valley flood victim spoke for hundreds when he said, ‘We can't carry on like this. We've got to stop the flooding problem at its source. That's the only way we are going to survive.’ More work needs to be done to slow down the rivers flowing off the moors, causing villages to flood. DEFRA is now creating a peat strategy (see) and ‘Slowing the Flow’, which improves drainage with bales of heather run-off; increasing rain absorbance by peat, improving land condition and cutting carbon emissions.