For more information on flooding , see
Oxfordshire County Council
Vale District Council
Environment Agency
Abingdon Herald
This is the weir at Abingdon. The Lock Gates are shown here fully raised at 6:30 PM. Today so far:
11:37 (Radio Oxford) – The Iffley Lock keeper reports a 2 inch rise in 30 minutes at Iffley Lock (2 locks up from Abingdon). All the weirs are open but that is not working. It is still on the way up.
11:54 (Radio Oxford)- Abingdon Road in Oxford is starting to flood and will be closed in the next hour. Botley Road is closed. City Centre restriction lifted to allow traffic through.
12:15 – From Vale site – Severe Flood Warnings remain in place for the rivers Ock and Thames in the Vale area, and the latest prediction from the Environment Agency is that flooding will start in the town at around 7pm.
Streets that are likely to be affected include:
Audlett Drive, Bailie Close, Burton Close, Caldecott Road, Chaunterell Way, Coleridge Drive, Culham Road, Drayton Road, East St. Helens Street, Francis Little Drive, Godrey Close, Hermitage Road, Jenyns Court, Manor Court, Marcham Road, Meadowside, Medlicott Drive, Mill Paddock, Mill Road, Mill Stream Court, Musson Close, Nash Drive, Ock Mill Close, Ock Steet, Orpwood Way, Riply Close, Shepherd Gardens, South Quay, St. Amand Drive, St. Helens Wharf, Suffolk Way, Sympsons Close, Tennyson Drive, The Bridge, Thurston Close, Tower Close, Turberville Close, Wilsham Road, Wordsworth Road, and Wyndyke Furlong,
Five teams from the Council are currently delivering 500 sandbags to roads in Abingdon which are most likely to flood and which are not yet protected.
14:15 BBC Reports it will peak at about 2:45 AM tomorrow
18:15 Speak to Abingdon Lock Keeper. He says the river is still rising. He says the whiz kids at the Environment Agency say it will peak at about 11:45 PM now. But he says that the river will have to find its own level. He is doing all he can to help that happen.
This lad is finding his own level by bike at the Abbey Meadow. He got much further than his mates, but didn’t get much further.
This is one of the closest houses to the Thames. The river is rising but at 19:45 it has risen an inch or two in the last hour. It is the highest I’ve seen it but it is not flooding yet – at least not on this side. We haven’t yet seen what has been described as the surge.
The bottom of Preston Road could be affected. Lucca looks safe. Not sure this web site will survive the night either. It could be flooded out by traffic.
The Abingdon Historical Society web link from this blog shows several images of the "Great Flood" in Abingdon in 1894.
Intersting comparisons with the images over the last few days.
Thanks for your information on the Hermitage estate. What a nightmare it must be – especially knowing that the waters still have to rise further.
Does anyone know how things are for Lucca Drive and Preston Road?
Great blog & photos – they made me aware of the problems – we have a house in Riley Close but now live in Harwell. Went to provide help & sandbags today – some had been delivered to houses but only 3-5 each.
The river thames was at street level at about 3pm this afternoon – not on the street though & traffic was still moving around the Anchor bridge.
Thanks for your updates on ADC clubhouse and St Nics and John Mason. St Helens Church looks in imminent danger – this really saddens me.
Lucy – Dorset
James, Thanks for the offer. When the flood goes away 'This Abingdon' should return to being a sleepy backwater. Don, No web cams as yet, but loads of CCTV cams. The town council has a web cam down as part of the museum future plans.
Backstreeter
Many thanks for the information that you're providing today.
I work for a company on the Science Park: Napier Court, not far from the river, but I'm not there right now. I would be grateful for any updates.
Ideal, of course, would be a web cam – are there any in Abingdon?
Don
I've got some photos online at http://picasaweb.google.com/jrwdavis/Floods .
If you're still having bandwidth problems let me know – I'd be happy to provide you with some.
james@freecharity.org.uk
Hermitage was flooded up to a few houses below where it meets Healey close. The Drama Club had water to the door on Sunday, but I didn't peep inside. St Nics and John Mason are well out of harms way .
Blacknall should be OK. The Vale list is supposed to be a worse case scenario, based on an environment agency map. It is the best information at the moment. But still you might want to be prepared in the worse worse case. We were told to prepare an overnight bag, and to move any valuable / sentimental items high up. Sandbags will be allocated first to those roads most in danger. Thats probably why the list is needed – those with most highest risk will be looked after first.
I know that you can't keep an eye everywhere – unless you are Abingdon's very own Superman, but can you keep us informed about the Unicorn Theatre and Abingdon Drama Club – both very special places to our family. Also St Nicolas School and John Mason. Go on, you know you can do it!!!
How bad is the Hermitage Road estate? Are the houses under the water yet? We used to live there – feel sorry for our buyers. We now live on a hill.
Is Blacknall Road in any danger at all? I've just bought a house on there and it's not listed anywhere but it's near Caldecott isn't it?
Help muchly appreciated!
Barry
No well known landmarks yet flooded but will try later
Thanks back streeter for the marina update – cheers
Can you post some images of more recognisable Abingdon landmarks?
How is the water-level along the river bank down by the church?
The marina say on a recorded message that the carpark is under about a foot of water. Boats are fine. Boats are approachable if you have wellies.
Thanks very much
Zoe, Blacknall Road and Caldecott Chase are not listed as being in danger. I'm using the Abingdon Herald list of 41 roads in danger from the Vale.
Im a boat owner in Abingdon Marina…. dont want to bother them as i am sure they are busy but how is the river looking around the marina…. Thanks
How about Caldecott chase?
another thank you – excellent site for us people who have left "home". Keep up the good work.
Thank you for the current information and great photos. Six months ago, I was living on Victoria Road, and it's amazing to see all the familiar sights completely flooded. Good luck to all of you in Abingdon.
lucca drive and the poets estate has no chance of being effected.
but the question remains. can i open my kebab van?
quuarrrt pounder cheeseburger yea? ok 2 pouuunds. neeext one!
Yes it should. I'll correct my copy.
On the list of affected streets, shouldn't "East St, Helen Street," be East St. Helen's Street"? Just trying to avoid confusion!
Is Preston Road going to flood as were three house in from wilsham road and preston road dips lower than Saxton.
Wilsham road is on the flood warning list so why isn't Preston Road?????
Hello! I was an Italian aupair in Culham and your town still keeps a special place in my heart, so when I heard of this flooding I got very worried… I know this is not Culham's blog 😉 but does anyone know how is the situation in that small village next to the river Thames? Thank you very very much! 🙂
My parents in Law live near the Brewery Tap pub in Abingdon, but are away at the moment and we can't get any reports to say if the river running by the post office depot has flooded badly. Could anyone shed any light?
Thank you
can anyone tell me if there is anyway to get into abingdon from the south, thanks
Hi, does anyone know how the Riverside collection being built by Barratts at Thames view is getting on, I have a house there but am not there at the moments.
thanks
Peter here in New Zealand.
Not nice seeing what is occuring in my old home town. Lived in Exbourne Rd, not far from the White Horse from memory.
Hope the rivers all drop fairly quickly and the damage isn't too great.
A severe weather warning has been put out for us, we are expecting around 120mm on Sunday.
Regards,
Peter
Mot my list. It does have a couple of oddities. When it says East St Helen Street, it probably means the lowest few houses. Same would be the case for Preston Road. But the way things are going, barring a freak, things are looking safer. But the environment agency are being cautious having not foreseen the problems caused by the River Ock. The Riverside Collection was safe. The Brewery Tap and Post Office sortin was safe. Ock Street flooded further along. Sorry I haven't been to Culham yet. Anybody? You can get into Abingdon now from the South, but roads around Oxford are bad (in Kennington near the A34 end, and Abingdon Road in Oxford)
I'm not there today as it seemed safe to travel to work and will give an update later
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