The right kind of people

FOR more than a week now, the town of Snaith in EastYorkshire where I live, and its surrounding villages, has fallen victim to flooding. Like the majority of its residents, we are very fortunate that our home has not been inundated. But we all know friends who have suffered that fate.

Only three months ago, I wrote in this column about the similar devastation suffered by the nearby village of Fishlake and how the area was rallying round to offer help. Now it’s us undergoing the surreal experience of watching our familiar lanes and fields on national TV under waters nearly as wide as LakeWindermere.

Some have seen their homes – and dreams for the immediate future – ruined, and understandably directed their anger and impotence at a perceived lack of official support. There have been dark claims that we have been sacrificed to prevent more heavily populated areas further up the River Aire from flooding.

Rather than swallow fashionable assumptions that it is the consequence of climate change, those who have lived longest in this historically flood-prone region know it is the rather less virtue-signalling principles of effective river management, like regular dredging and sluice-gate maintenance, that have real practical value.

Most of all though, it is the quiet, unshowy kindness of people filling sandbags, making meals, and offering shelter and financial support, that has characterised the town’s response to its awful ordeal. And make it a place we are proud to call home.