Thread by @MargoCHanson

Lying in bed looking at the flood map of the UK and thinking about my parents' home in Hull which flooded for the first time in 2007, my relative's home in Cumbria, which flooded for the 1st time in 2015, my sister who had to be rescued from a flooded road during the same storm..

..their friends who had to be rescued out of first floor bedrooms, my ex whose workplace took in bedraggled villagers as the River Eamont swallowed the heart of the village, my brother's firefighter colleagues who could not save the man whose foot had become trapped..

.. in a storm drain, my retired neighbour who did the backbreaking work of building us both a wall at the end of our gardens so no more of it would be washed away by the worsening storms, the Horsforth residents I overheard yesterday by the bridge at Newlay nervously wondering..

..if the houses by the Aire would flood as they did on Boxing Day 2015, my friend in Hebden Bridge whose town went underwater again last week, and all of those people whose homes and businesses are being wrecked today, whether in the UK or Jackson, Mississippi, or anywhere else

Yes, they are all in my thoughts (I don't do prayers) but in this escalating #ClimateEmergency what we need URGENTLY, is effective POLICY and the RESOURCES to implement RAPID AND TRANSFORMATIVE CHANGE

Thank you @JayMitchinson and @yorkshirepost for putting together a comprehensive examination of Yorkshire's flood crisis.

https://twitter.com/JayMitchinson/status/1228585108279562240

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost On Friday, the YP editorial said this:

'Today this newspaper – on behalf of the 5.4 million people who live in Yorkshire – challenges the Prime Minister and his top team to adopt this 10-point blueprint:

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost * Hold – without delay – a summit of key officials and victims to whom Mr Johnson promised so much after the River Don floods last November;

* Commission an inquiry into the leadership and effectiveness of the Environment Agency, vis-a-vis flooding;

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost * Review future funding levels for flood defences and coastal erosion, taking account of the very latest weather patterns and projections;

* Create a national infrastructure recovery fund so councils can rebuild damaged communities without delay;

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost * Grant so-called ‘tier 1’ special status to councils in the most vulnerable areas, like Calderdale, so they qualify for vital emergency Government funding;

* Overhaul the Flood Re insurance scheme so affordable cover – as promised – is more widely available;

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost * Fund a comprehensive river *dredging strategy and publish immediately the delivery plan; (NB: @JayMitchinson acknowledges mixed views on this)

* Provide the emergency services with all additional funding required - centrally - and review Army-deployment criteria immediately;

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost * Commission now an independent Natural Flood Management review and begin implementing its recommendations before the end of this year;

* Honour the commitments made by previous Prime Ministers and Ministers to the people of all regions at risk of flooding.

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost @alexsobel @hilarybennmp @RachelReevesMP @RichardBurgon @StuartAndrew @FabianLeedsNE @andreajenkyns Alec Shelbrook, do you support the YP's 10 point blueprint and if so, how will you use your influence to persuade @BorisJohnson and the government to act?

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost @alexsobel @hilarybennmp @RachelReevesMP @RichardBurgon @StuartAndrew @FabianLeedsNE @andreajenkyns @BorisJohnson Backstories:

When Hull flooded in 2007, more than 9,000 homes and businesses were flooded and 95 out of 98 schools were damaged

hulldailymail.co.uk/news/hull-east…

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost @alexsobel @hilarybennmp @RachelReevesMP @RichardBurgon @StuartAndrew @FabianLeedsNE @andreajenkyns @BorisJohnson My childhood home sat in a lake, surrounded by water up to 3 feet deep, much like the one in this pic

My parents, then 70 and 75 were originally told by their insurer that they'd have to live in a caravan in the front garden.

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost @alexsobel @hilarybennmp @RachelReevesMP @RichardBurgon @StuartAndrew @FabianLeedsNE @andreajenkyns @BorisJohnson They had to battle with the insurer to get a rented flat, but thousands of others weren't so lucky, with families cramped together in mobile homes designed for holidays, as the area turned into a caravan park puncuated by huge piles of ruined possessions

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost @alexsobel @hilarybennmp @RachelReevesMP @RichardBurgon @StuartAndrew @FabianLeedsNE @andreajenkyns @BorisJohnson Given thousands of homes and businesses were ruined, 'cowboy' builders poured in from across the country to do the insurance work.

Mum and Dad spent most of their time trying to stop the builders making a mess of their lovely 1920s house and my Dad, a typical Yorkshireman of ..

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost @alexsobel @hilarybennmp @RachelReevesMP @RichardBurgon @StuartAndrew @FabianLeedsNE @andreajenkyns @BorisJohnson .. few words could only speak about the flood, the mess, the terrible work being done in the house whilst my mum, filled box and box with letters to the insurance company, the contractor and her MP.

Eventually, they paid for a surveyor to write a report about the work and the..

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost @alexsobel @hilarybennmp @RachelReevesMP @RichardBurgon @StuartAndrew @FabianLeedsNE @andreajenkyns @BorisJohnson .insurer finally agreed the work was indeed appalling, and a second contractor was appointed, who thankfully, did a better job.

But for my mum, the house was ruined, many of its lovely old features, sodden and mouldy, ripped out and she felt its heart had gone with them.

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost @alexsobel @hilarybennmp @RachelReevesMP @RichardBurgon @StuartAndrew @FabianLeedsNE @andreajenkyns @BorisJohnson She has wanted to move ever since but Dad stubbornly insists he'll 'go out of there in a box', meanwhile I see the sea level projections for Hull and worry about what the #climatecrisis has in store for the rest of my family, especially my cousins and their kids

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost @alexsobel @hilarybennmp @RachelReevesMP @RichardBurgon @StuartAndrew @FabianLeedsNE @andreajenkyns @BorisJohnson My 23 year old nephew, the 4th generation of marine engineers, has just moved into his first home and proudly showed us around via whatsapp. Whilst we all cooed and ooed, I privately kept thinking, when people really start to grasp the seriousness of our situation and understand

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost @alexsobel @hilarybennmp @RachelReevesMP @RichardBurgon @StuartAndrew @FabianLeedsNE @andreajenkyns @BorisJohnson .. the implications of sea level rise and high intensity rainfall events on places like Hull, and house prices in such areas plummet, who will get out first and who will be stuck with an unsellable house?

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost @alexsobel @hilarybennmp @RachelReevesMP @RichardBurgon @StuartAndrew @FabianLeedsNE @andreajenkyns @BorisJohnson Which brings me to my ex bro in law who, having recently moved to York (he picks em, huh!) was putting the finishing touches to his house in Broad Street Carlisle to get it on the market to sell.

But on 5th December, 2015, Storm Desmond barrelled through and the Eden burst its

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost @alexsobel @hilarybennmp @RachelReevesMP @RichardBurgon @StuartAndrew @FabianLeedsNE @andreajenkyns @BorisJohnson banks.

We were glad my sister had sold her house on Warwick Road because during the previous floods, my nieces had been alone in the house when the water crept up to but not beyond the doorstep.

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost @alexsobel @hilarybennmp @RachelReevesMP @RichardBurgon @StuartAndrew @FabianLeedsNE @andreajenkyns @BorisJohnson But Desmond was a monster and the Eden rose to record levels, upwards into Broad Street, which had never flooded before and into the newly painted house and by the time Keith had raced over, it was waist deep.

Not a good look for a house you want to sell.

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost @alexsobel @hilarybennmp @RachelReevesMP @RichardBurgon @StuartAndrew @FabianLeedsNE @andreajenkyns @BorisJohnson So once the house was dried out, knowing Keith and my nieces decorated again but nobody was buying houses that had recently been decorated with dirty flood water so the house was rented out and still is.

Keith would love to sell up but right now, Broad St is on flood watch

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost @alexsobel @hilarybennmp @RachelReevesMP @RichardBurgon @StuartAndrew @FabianLeedsNE @andreajenkyns @BorisJohnson Here's one of Keith's neighbours being rescued from her house on Broad Street. Fancy buying here? Thought not

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost @alexsobel @hilarybennmp @RachelReevesMP @RichardBurgon @StuartAndrew @FabianLeedsNE @andreajenkyns @BorisJohnson To clarify, the above pic was 2015 not today.

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost @alexsobel @hilarybennmp @RachelReevesMP @RichardBurgon @StuartAndrew @FabianLeedsNE @andreajenkyns @BorisJohnson Now let's head back to Hull and the washout summer of 2007.

My brother's first house was in Hessle but he and me had been talking about climate change way back since the 90s and being a forward thinking sort, he sold his little house on the flat and bought one up a hill.

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost @alexsobel @hilarybennmp @RachelReevesMP @RichardBurgon @StuartAndrew @FabianLeedsNE @andreajenkyns @BorisJohnson When I say a hill, Leeds people will say, 'You call that a hill?' but Hull is as flat as a slightly sunken pancake, so for Hull, it's a hill at the top of Boothferry Road.

And on that day when my sister in law waded home from the hospital where she worked, that road turned

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost @alexsobel @hilarybennmp @RachelReevesMP @RichardBurgon @StuartAndrew @FabianLeedsNE @andreajenkyns @BorisJohnson into a fast flowing river, at the bottom of which was Hull and Hessle and that little terraced house they sold.

And just around the corner from that terraced house, a man caught his foot in a storm drain as the waters rose around him.

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost @alexsobel @hilarybennmp @RachelReevesMP @RichardBurgon @StuartAndrew @FabianLeedsNE @andreajenkyns @BorisJohnson My brother's firefighter colleagues and specialist divers, struggled for hours to rescue Michael Barnett, 28, but despite a four hour effort to save him, Michael, died from hypothermia

theguardian.com/uk/2007/dec/11…

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost @alexsobel @hilarybennmp @RachelReevesMP @RichardBurgon @StuartAndrew @FabianLeedsNE @andreajenkyns @BorisJohnson I didn't set out to write a tweetathon. It just poured out.

But as you can see, #climatechange fuelled record flooding events have touched my family and friends and I want to do all I can to minimise future harm.

If you've read this far,thanks for staying with me.

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost @alexsobel @hilarybennmp @RachelReevesMP @RichardBurgon @StuartAndrew @FabianLeedsNE @andreajenkyns @BorisJohnson This next bout of flooding rain will eventually stop but each and every one of us must work together to try and prevent the next bout being worse.

And that means working together to:

1. bring carbon emissions to zero
2. create climate resilient, socially just communities

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost @alexsobel @hilarybennmp @RachelReevesMP @RichardBurgon @StuartAndrew @FabianLeedsNE @andreajenkyns @BorisJohnson @LeedsCC_CEAQ @LeedsClimateCom @OurFutureLeeds @lisamulherin @CllrWalshaw @JKSteinberger @PaulChatterton9 @crisortunity Right, I'm done.

I have school uniform to wash, a bathroom to clean, shopping to order and I need to check the flood maps.

But first, I need a very large mug of Yorkshire Tea

@YorkshireTea @Yorkshire_Life @Tweet2Yorkshire

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost @alexsobel @hilarybennmp @RachelReevesMP @RichardBurgon @StuartAndrew @FabianLeedsNE @andreajenkyns @BorisJohnson @LeedsCC_CEAQ @LeedsClimateCom @OurFutureLeeds @lisamulherin @CllrWalshaw @JKSteinberger @PaulChatterton9 @crisortunity @YorkshireTea @Yorkshire_Life @Tweet2Yorkshire @threadreaderapp unroll

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost @alexsobel @hilarybennmp @RachelReevesMP @RichardBurgon @StuartAndrew @FabianLeedsNE @andreajenkyns @BorisJohnson @LeedsCC_CEAQ @LeedsClimateCom @OurFutureLeeds @lisamulherin @CllrWalshaw @JKSteinberger @PaulChatterton9 @crisortunity @YorkshireTea @Yorkshire_Life @Tweet2Yorkshire @threadreaderapp @Strike4Youth @YLeedsuk @SJackson96 @MattCarmichael2

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost @alexsobel @hilarybennmp @RachelReevesMP @RichardBurgon @StuartAndrew @FabianLeedsNE @andreajenkyns @BorisJohnson @LeedsCC_CEAQ @LeedsClimateCom @OurFutureLeeds @lisamulherin @CllrWalshaw @JKSteinberger @PaulChatterton9 @crisortunity @YorkshireTea @Yorkshire_Life @Tweet2Yorkshire @threadreaderapp @Strike4Youth @YLeedsuk @SJackson96 @MattCarmichael2 @sdessai ahead of our continuing discussions, a little half term read for you!

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost @alexsobel @hilarybennmp @RachelReevesMP @RichardBurgon @StuartAndrew @FabianLeedsNE @andreajenkyns @BorisJohnson @LeedsCC_CEAQ @LeedsClimateCom @OurFutureLeeds @lisamulherin @CllrWalshaw @JKSteinberger @PaulChatterton9 @crisortunity @YorkshireTea @Yorkshire_Life @Tweet2Yorkshire @threadreaderapp @Bankfieldbecky @paulallencat @PNBryant @elijahmckenzee lots of Cumbria refs in my tweetathon 😊

@JayMitchinson @yorkshirepost @alexsobel @hilarybennmp @RachelReevesMP @RichardBurgon @StuartAndrew @FabianLeedsNE @andreajenkyns @BorisJohnson @LeedsCC_CEAQ @LeedsClimateCom @OurFutureLeeds @lisamulherin @CllrWalshaw @JKSteinberger @PaulChatterton9 @crisortunity @YorkshireTea @Yorkshire_Life @Tweet2Yorkshire @threadreaderapp @frannyarmstrong