Flood

Riverbank tree at Odell, north Beds 24.12.20

Bedford on Boxing day. The Great Ouse breaks its banks and spills across Mill Meadows. There are sand bags outside houses in Tennyson Road. Upriver, houses in Harrold and Clapham are flooded. People are evacuated to the Bedford Athletic stadium and to Bromham Village Hall. And tonight, storm Bella is howling. And it's raining again. I didn't think this year could get worse.

In the late afternoon of Christmas Eve, I walked by the mill at Odell and saw this riverbank tree standing in about 4 or 5 feet of water. The river was bucking and swirling, the colour of fudge. The path behind the mill ended prematurely in a lake. As the sun set, the north wind bit. Puddles were iced on Christmas morning.

Let's hope it won't be as bad as 1948 when Bedfordians had to be rescued from upstairs windows.