Thames barrier

At risk of tempting fate, it looks like we might be out of the woods on this one. I've seen that the barrier that the Environment Agency installed is being described elsewhere as "working so far" and "doing a sterling job" but to be honest, the water hasn't actually reached it yet, so it's still untested in my eyes.

In fact, it looks a bit on the flimsy side to me. Particularly in the face of the great, primal roar of a thing it's supposed to be holding back. I should learn to trust in engineering, I suppose. Sand and steel vs nature's arteries. Lay yer bets.

Anyway, we've had it easy, others have not been so lucky. A river that looks big and intimidating is still a river, a road that looks like a river is something else entirely...