The great flood of 2012

Saturday 7th

It started like any other weekend shift really. Sure there was a lot of heavy rain falling but that seems to be par for the course this summer. I was soon to discover however, that this would be no ordinary weekend at work. Spring tides, phenomenally heavy rainfall and driving wind were all to conspire against us. My first inkling that things were happening was around 10 o’clock when I received a phone call from the RSPCA. Motorists travelling along the road bridge spanning the top of the reserve had reported seeing the cattle that graze Radipole, standing in steadily rising water. A quick phone-call to the grazier revealed that he was already on site, and had located the herd on a piece of high ground. Aberdeen Angus can swim (including the calves) and all of them survived the flood.

As the day progressed the rain kept falling, and I nervously watched the waters inexorable rise on the depth gauge near the Visitor Centre bridge. Earlier we had taken the decision to close the reserve as the paths were by then impassable. By early afternoon there was a glimmer of hope, the depth gauge revealed that the water level had started to drop, low tide had arrived. By now my colleagues Michelle and Nick had also arrived (Nick having abandoned a trip to Cornwall), and we decided to start moving the catering stock etc into higher cupboards, in preparation for the evening high tide.

The last thing we needed was another situation, so of course we got one. Luke had been to Lodmoor to assess the floods there, and it was apparent that the rising waters were about to engulf the tern islands. With 80+ tern chicks in situ the situation was quite literally chaos. The chicks were scrambling over each other to get away from the water, and the screaming adults were wheeling about in total panic. Eventually all that could be seen was the vegetation on the islands, festooned with hapless chicks. With the horrendous weather still in full force all we could do was watch.

The rest of the afternoon was spent filling sand-bags and fixing boards to the VC doors, in an attempt to keep the flood waters at bay. I left just before 17.00 to spend some time monitoring the tern situation at Lodmoor. By now many of the chicks were bobbing around looking for a feed and trying to find somewhere dry to stand, quite a pitiful sight. As I went home I reflected on a mad day, little realising what was to come.

The evening shift

My colleagues Nick, Luke and Chris all share a house near Radipole, and took a walk round the reserve about 20.00 on Saturday evening. With welly boots and waterproofs on it was still possible to access the paths. High tide was approaching, and with all that rain water it was pretty obvious that we faced further problems. Water levels at the concrete bridge were about to go critical (the bridge was eventually topped by water), and the lads approached the VC to see what lay in store. The water was coming in to our newly refurbished centre and was already ankle deep. Gutting! A phone call was made to Michelle (VC manager) who was enjoying an evening with friends and a curry. Like the trooper she is Michelle came back in to work to try and save what she could. She ended up being on site until 23.00. As she left the water was past her ankles and rising, and still it rained.

Sunday 8^th

Sunday dawned bright and sunny. Having seen the scenes of disaster unfolding on the lads Twitter posts, I came in to work next day with some trepidation. As I approached Swannery car-park an apocalyptic scene began to unfold. The whole of the car-park was flooded, with abandoned cars up to the tops of their wheels in water.  I made a futile attempt to walk to the VC in wellys, and soon had to turn back. Michelle and I donned waders, and set off to see how bad the devastation was. We got to the building where the water was up to nearly a metre high, and when we opened the back door the full enormity was revealed. Tables and chairs were floating everywhere, the freezer unit was bobbing around at a weird angle and there were books, bags, pond dipping equipment, paperwork and all manner of flotsam everywhere. A last few bits were saved, but the water was still rising so we abandoned the centre to its fate.

The team regrouped to discuss our next problem-the terns. I had swung past Lodmoor on the way in to assess the situation, and it looked bad. There were tern chicks dispersed widely along the top end of Lodmoor, and the adult birds were still in uproar as they desperately searched for the right chick to feed. Following a few quick calls to management a plan was hatched.  We had a couple of inflatable mattresses lying around, the perfect thing to provide temporary platforms for the chicks until the islands were revealed again. Now we just needed someone to put them there. Step forward Nick Quintrell, who with his previous snorkelling experience volunteered to put them in place.

So we set off to Lodmoor. The chaos over the islands hadn’t lessened any, and with wetsuit, flippers and mask on Nick swam off to put out the temporary refuges. The terns were already hyper stressed out, so he had to get the job done as quickly as possible. Within 10 minutes the mattresses were out, and we stood back to see if they would use them. Within an hour the first of the chicks were swimming over and scrambling on to the mattresses. Result. I spent the rest of the day monitoring the terns, and counted at least 50 chicks in various locations, and several flying. If the flood had happened a week earlier, many of these chicks would not have had the stamina to survive. We also had sightings of 2 newly fledged marsh harrier chicks flying over the reserve that afternoon, they made it into the air just in time.

 Aquaman to the rescue

Finally we are really grateful for all the offers of help we have received. At this stage we are still assessing the extent of the damage both within the centre and on the reserve, and once we know how best to make use of all your kind offers we will get the word out. Please watch this space.