On Monday a Conference, at which Sir Kingsley Wood presided,
was held to consider means of preventing disaster, from flood in London. A- sub-committee repre- senting the London County Council, the Thames Con- servancy, the Port of London Authority, and four of the metropolitan boroughs was formed to examine various suggestions that had been made to the Con- ference.„ We pointed out last week that the most obvious defect was the lack of any system of warning, and we learn with satisfaction that this matter is receiving special, attention. Later information proves that the great tide was altogether abnormal. The south-west gale :h4 raised the _level of the water in the south of the- North Sea. The gale then shifted to the north- west and. -drove more water down the North Sea. If the south-west gale had continued when the flood tide into the Thames began, the piled up water would have been Sufficiently held in check. The north-west gale died down and was followed by a complete calm. There was no check. In _one Essex river the water rose six feet in twenty minutes.
Previous page
