Please don’t swamp our homes!

RESIDENTS in Emmington and Sydenham near Thame, are pleading with drivers to drive very slowly through their villages which are currently severely flooded following the extended period of rain being experienced all over the south of the country.

Flooded road by The Inn at Emmington, leading into Sydenham

Driving through flooded roads at speed causes bow waves which send flood waters into homes and gardens. Residents ask drivers to only go to Sydenham to access the village itself .

Currently the  Thame to Chinnor road is severely flooded from the Towersey triangle in both directions, especially deep towards Chinnor.  It is also flooded at the junction with Sydenham Road at the Inn at Emmington.

The sewage system in the area is being inundated with groundwater which is bubbling out of manholes. Tankers are  in use to reduce the volume.

Watkins Bridge in Cuttle Brook Nature Reserve in Thame, surrounded by water

At Thame’s Cuttle Brook Nature Reserve, the new Watkins Bridge is surrounded by water and the ditches draining water from Chiltern Vale are full to the brim. With memories of flooded gardens and houses in Cedar Crescent, Thame, in 2008,  in the minds of affected householders,  David Laver, of the Cutttle Brook Volunteers, told Thame.Net: “At the moment the water is pretty high but the lower meadow is not flooded yet although it is waterlogged. So with a couple of drier days, I think we should get away without any houses flooded. It will depend on how much water is still to come down off the Chilterns into the river.”