Britain hit by worst flooding in 60 years

Thousands of people in Britain were left stranded in villages and towns Monday during the worst flooding in 60 years, which Prime Minister Gordon Brown linked to climate change.
Swathes of central and western England were submerged as rivers swelled and burst their banks during four days of heavy rain, leaving thousands without clean water or electricity and facing the prospect of more rain.
The largely rural counties of Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Oxfordshire were the worst hit, forcing Royal Air Force (RAF) helicopters to evacuate around 150 people in the RAF's biggest-ever peacetime rescue.
Speaking after a helicopter visit to the area, Brown linked the floods to climate change and pledged 200 million pounds (298 million euros, 411 million dollars) extra funding, plus a review to address future issues.
"Like every advanced industrialised country, we are coming to terms with the issues surrounding climate change," he said. Britain was grappling with "19th century structures" and its drainage system would also have to be looked at, he added. Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said that up to 10,000 homes have been or could still be flooded and warned that the emergency was "not yet over".
In Gloucestershire, the worst-hit area, 150,000 homes are without water after a treatment works flooded, while 40,000 are without power. It could take up to two weeks to restore water supplies to some households, according to some reports. Noting the irony of the situation, the Daily Mail's headline Monday read: "Water, water everywhere but ... not a drop to drink!"
Over 100 sailors from the Royal Navy have been sent to build flood defences with sandbags to protect an electricity sub-station which serves half a million homes.
And there are fears that the situation could be about to get worse. Water levels are not expected to peak for another 24 to 48 hours, while weather forecasters at the Met Office are predicting more rain Monday in southern England, where eight severe flood warnings are already in place. Officials say that Britain's two biggest rivers, the Thames and the Severn, could burst their banks, with more chaotic results for homes and businesses.
In the university city of Oxford, which is on the Thames, up to 1,500 people have already been evacuated to a football stadium amid widespread inundation and the closure of scores of schools.
The government's COBRA emergency planning committee met Sunday to discuss the situation. The Association of British Insurers has predicted that the cost of this bout of flooding, combined with one last month which killed four people, could be over two billion pounds (2.9 billion euros, 4.1 billion dollars).