Britain battles to hold devastating floods

GLOUCESTER – Emergency workers battled to hold back overflowing rivers after Britain’s worst floods in 60 years engulfed villages and town streets and cut off fresh water supplies to hundreds of thousands of people.

Days of pouring rain have turned wide areas of central and western England into lakes, flooding 4 500 houses, threatening many more and leaving cars submerged. Harvesting of crops such as barley and rapeseed has been delayed and milk production and deliveries curtailed, sparking fears of food shortages.In the western city of Gloucester, Ken Ticehurst, 41, said police had been guarding the doors to a local supermarket on Monday night to stop panic buying of bottled water after reports of fighting in local food stores.Freak downpours have left many Britons wondering whether they are witnessing the impact of global warming.Police, firefighters and the military fought a desperate all-night battle to hold back floodwaters from an electricity substation that supplies power to half a million people in the western English county of Gloucestershire.They managed to keep the water out and the power running.Nampa-ReutersHarvesting of crops such as barley and rapeseed has been delayed and milk production and deliveries curtailed, sparking fears of food shortages.In the western city of Gloucester, Ken Ticehurst, 41, said police had been guarding the doors to a local supermarket on Monday night to stop panic buying of bottled water after reports of fighting in local food stores.Freak downpours have left many Britons wondering whether they are witnessing the impact of global warming.Police, firefighters and the military fought a desperate all-night battle to hold back floodwaters from an electricity substation that supplies power to half a million people in the western English county of Gloucestershire.They managed to keep the water out and the power running.Nampa-Reuters