An article in the Westmorland Gazette

A friend of mine has forwarded a copy of an article published in the Westmorland Gazette, she had kept:

Familiar? - now look at the date at the bottom!

Flood Victims Call For Field Drainage
RESIDENTS of South Ulverston are calling for action to be taken to prevent a re-run of this week's severe flooding.
Torrential rain caused Town Beck and Dragley Beck to burst their banks, resulting in the worst flooding seen in the town in nearly 20 years.
Fire crews were kept busy from 11am until the early evening and council workers were drafted in to put sandbags on doorsteps to stop water from getting in.
Householders in Steel Street and Outcast now want new measures to drain fields and streets.
They say that nothing has been done about draining the fields alongside Dragley Beck, which flood regularly.
South View Farm, Outcast, was the worst affected with water reaching six inches up the wall.
Jennifer Atkinson, who was mopping up this week after the floods ruined carpets and spoilt furniture, said: "This shows Dragley Beck needs urgent attention. The flooding has caused such a mess, I still have a feeling of disbelief that the water came up this far."
Beverley Lewis called for maintenance work to be carried out on Dragley Beck after the garden of her house, which backs onto the river, flooded and water seeped onto the kitchen carpet.
"I've lived here for 12 years and its only been cleaned out once, about seven or eight years ago when they brought a JCB digger in to drain it," she said.
Dominic Scott, from South Lakeland District Council's environmental protection group, has been investigating the causes of the flood.
He said: "We had a large amount of water falling in a very short space of time. The rain ran off the surface very quickly into the becks and streams which couldn't cope with so much extra water.
"But we are as concerned as the residents and will see if any improvements can be made. If a new drainage scheme is needed we will try to see if there is money available to do that but it is such a big river it will be a fairly major scheme."
Meanwhile, on the other side of Dragley Beck, residents of Steel Street had a narrow escape.
Barry Jay, who has lived in the street for seven years, watched the water rising in the field behind his house and, fearing the worst, he rang SLDC.
Mr Jay said: "The field often floods but it just kept coming. We got anxious and I decided to dig a channel of gravel on the car park so the water crept round there.
"This terrace was just an island and the garden was awash, I just couldn't believe it," Mr Jay added.
A Steel Street householder, who did not wish to be named, commented: "We never get the drains cleaned out properly. When we had those big wagons pumping the rubbish out the drains were much better but now all they use is a small tube, its not enough."
During his investigation, Mr Scott discovered vandals had removed the metal sluice gate at Garden Terrace in north Ulverston.
This caused the water from Mill Beck to flow down Gill Banks and swamp back yards.
All the Ulverston residents praised the work of emergency services and council for their quick response.
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Westmorland Gazette
9:30am Saturday 8th August 1998