Thursday, February 27, 201
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Page 5 The Sundance Times
In England, we expect our winters to be
marked by a nip in the air and the odd spot of
rain, a far cry from the frozen roads and ter-
rifying blizzards of Wyoming. What we do not
expect is for half the country to suddenly find
itself underwater.
Whatever disturbance in the jet stream
caused the polar vortex at the beginning of the
year is continuing its sightseeing expedition
in Europe. In other words, the same weather
system that brought
zero-degree condi-
tions to the Midwest
has been dumping
inch after inch of rain
on England since the
year began.
While, on this side of
the Atlantic, we spent
most of the holiday
period wrapped in
as many blankets as
can conceivably be applied to a human being,
the United Kingdom is now donning a snorkel.
Europe's beaches are being stormed, but this
time it's not by the military.
The first indication that things were going
wrong was a section of sea wall collapsing,
leaving a railway line suspended in nothing-
ness. And while locals stared at the rubble and
scratched their heads, water on the southern
plains began to creep up from the ground,
forming an unexpected lake where once there
was farmland and villages.
Eventually, the seas were in such turmoil
that an ancient stack rock just off the coast
that weighs many hundreds of tons, and is
known affectionately in my home county as
=Pom Pom Rock, simply crumbled into the
water. In Cornwall, down on the foot of our
island, a landmark stone archway in Porthco-
than Bay was battered by 30-foot waves and
eventually met the same fate.
The wind cut power to thousands of homes
as the number of counties under severe flood
warnings began to rise. Living rooms turned
into swimming pools and the capital city
decided to get in on the action as the River
Thames reached its highest level in 60 years.
The armed forces were dispatched to pile
sandbags against houses, but this just irri-
tated people. It turns out that rocking up to a
flood-ridden town without packing your wel-
lington boots and waders will elicit a rolled eye
and a snort from the beleaguered residents.
A lot of these troops were forced to sit help-
lessly in their trucks while the locals wandered
past in their hip-high rubber boots, sorting
out the sandbags for themselves. Meanwhile,
fire fighters floated by on their old and creak-
ing boats, too low on hlnding to deal with
floods as well as flames. Anyone brave enough
to step outside their dinghy was immediately
transported to hospital with a vicious water-
borne disease.
Our prime minister had trumpeted the ar-
rival of these troops as a clear sign that the
flooding was well under control. Clearly, it
was anything but.
Had I been in England when these storms
hit, I would probably have been living in my
tiny London apartment. It was located near
the top of Richmond Hill, the view from which
stretches out forever and is so idyllic that it has
inspired many a master painter and poet.
Nearby was Richmond Park, the highest
point of which is King Henry's Mound. Leg-
end has it that King Henry VIII once stood on
This Side of
the Pond
Notes from an Uprooted
Englishwoman
BY SARAH PRIDGEON
thedral in the heart of the city, more than 10
miles away. He was waiting for the sign that
Anne Boleyn had been executed and he was
free to take on yet another wife.
As these facts demonstrate, Richmond Hill is
one of the taller locations in London. This was
quite the inconvenience when I was carrying
grocery bags up from the supermarket and
led to several interesting experiences involv-
ing unexpected snow, inappropriate footwear
and an uncoopera-
tive alarm clock. But
while I would still be
cursing the bus stop
for being located at
the bottom of the hill
and suffering from
sore buttocks on a
semi-regular basis, I
would also have been
far above the flood
waters.
Down in the suburb of Richmond-Upon-
Thames, the River Thames burst its banks.
Hundreds of cars were completely submerged,
causing the nation's insurance companies to
suffer minor hernias. And my old stomping
ground was not the only part of London in
trouble.
I've shaken my head in the past when I've
discovered towns and cities in other parts of
the world that have been built on the sides
of volcanoes and along the main thoroughfare
of tornadoes. I couldn't quite imagine what
would possess someone to build their home in
the way of an obvious harm.
But this week, as the Thames Barrier was
closed repeatedly to keep the waters at bay,
I found out that 1.25 million people in my
country are living on a giant floodplain called
London. It would seem that Mother Nature in-
sists on being present, no matter where you
choose to live.
Up on Richmond Hill, which is certainly not
part of the floodplain, I would have looked
down on the carnage with pity and concern.
Much like Winnie the Pooh in similar circum-
stances, I'd have sat on my branch surround-
ed by honey jars and waited for Piglet to arrive
on an upturned umbrella. When no umbrella
arrived, I imagine I would have decided to skip
the commute to work.
I would have been thankful for this decision
when Virgin Trains tweeted a message read-
ing simply, =ALL CUSTOMERS TO ABANDON
TRAVEL." Never let it be said that the English
are incapable of doom-mongering.
As these things tend to do, the storms brought
whole communities together. Just as hotels in
this region flung opened their doors for shel-
ter when the power went out during Oct0ber's
snowstorm, England puUed together.
The pubs made space for makeshift clin-
ics, farmers ferried aid to one of the worst-hit
counties on a convoy of tractors and hundreds
of volunteers filled and handed out sandbags.
The soldiers, once they found the right boots,
built steel barricades in a race against time
and overflowing rivers.
So while you are searching the skies this
week for the signs of our next bad blizzard,
be assured that your cousins in England are
very much feeling your pain. The awful win-
ter weather seems to be affecting us all, one
way or another, so perhaps the answer lies in
spreading that community spirit more widely.
The Brits could send over their soggy spare
blankets, and we could lend them Keyhole's
this mound and looked over at St. Paul's Ca- sailboats in return.
Letter to the Editor
We lost our battle with the state and it will hurt us in Sundance. I contacted Senator Driskill
tonight but by the time I connected him, we missed the filing dates for budget amendments
and the way the budget stands, we are going to lose $84,000. This is quite ironic in a state
that says they will spend more on local government than ever before. The budget that starts
this year and runs until July 2016, had all hardship payments removed in lieu of payments
based strictly on population. This gives towns like Casper, our largest city, $1.6 million at the
expense of small towns like us. I fought for us but lost. Below is my last letter to the JAC (Joint
Appropriation Committee).
My name is Paul Brooks and I am the Mayor of Sundance. I have been the Mayor for the past
three years and in that time we nearly doubled all of our rates, at this time the minimum bill is
$84 dollars. We have also cut three full time positions. I am writing you about the Governor's
recommendation on the budget. Here in Sundance, we have limited sales tax and that means
very little discretionary spending. The State of Wyoming has been very good to us but almost
all grants, including our county's consensus money, requires a match. With the current pro-
posal we will be financially crippled.
Last night we met with the DEQ and they want us to transfer our waste this fail, and then I
have 180 days to close the landfill. The numbers we have been provided by them would require
me to raise the garbage pick-up and tipping to $125 per account to have the rate base to apply
for a grant. I need discretionary spending to apply for that SLIB grant to close the landfill and
keep the rate affordable.
Our water tank failed two years ago and we still don't have it back on line. We are getting
66/33 % money from WWDC but it is difficult to make our match. I am being pushed to have
the ISO model done and without that water tank, Fire Insurance will go up in Sundance. I
also have a pending law suit because the land owner of the failing water tank site wants it
reclaimed and I don't have the money for that. That reclamation is called for in a 1949 agree-
ment.
I am also trying to prepare for the 2015 take off of the Rare Earth Element Mine. This type of
preparation takes discretionary funds.
I realize that communities with large populations or large sales tax receipts are not confront-
ed by this type of problem but it is tough in the smallest of towns. I would respectfully request
you go back to the Governor's recommendation.
Sincerely Paul Brooks Mayor of Sundance
Opinions
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VB ,rob " -- lIl ll CROOK ..... Freid.COUNTY NEWSF 8:45
Sundance News with Peggy Symonds M-F 8:30 =.m.
Hulett News with Dent M W a.m,
( Moorcroft News with Jim Diehl M,W,F 8:50 a.rn.
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