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 The Dutch have pioneered floating houses, if there is a flood the house rises with the water on a vertical pile.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6405359.stm

hi yes our tourers are nice for holidays but to live for months on end is another matter they have been reporting on midlands today but i dont agree as the reporter says that caravans are very cold i think they are nice and cosy in the winter with the heating and blow air on  i wish them all well at xmas and hope there homes with soon be ready

I do sympathise with these people but then my sick sense of humour kicks in and yes before anybody mentions it I can and do laugh at my own my misfortunes and I am happy to be laughed at; but I suppose the market is going to be "Flooded" with second hand vans.

 On my local news report this evening the report was that many families are going to be cold and damp this christmas. We possibly do more winter caravanning than summer and our issue is keeping the van cool.

The report also concluded that due to drains not being kept up to scratch this caused flooding "uphill" too.

Holidays and weekends are one thing but living is another. I hope things get sorted soon for these people.

Best wishes to them all.

Noffy  

Tonight's Six O'Clock News on the BBC had a reporter visiting some of the families, including one in a very new looking Meridian - it looked clean, dry and warm (or at least it probably was before the reporter had the side window fully opened).

I'm sure the vast majority of these people would rather be spending the festive period in their brick houses but the way the reporter spoke made it sound as though they'd be living in an open cave!  "We all know how cold and damp caravans like these can get" - I'm sure Fleetwood are absolutely delighted at that publicity!!

I realise that news is now only newsworthy if it is laced with emotive and dramatic language but really - the family featured were very upbeat saying they'd make the best of it and, chances are, in years to come, they'll look back and laugh.  I don't mean to belittle in any way what they've gone through - I fully appreciate that many people lost things that have taken a lifetime to accrue and that one man lost his life - but they still have their home and, for many, once the repairs and refurbishments have been done, they'll be better than they were pre-flood.

I guess I just didn't like the tone of the BBC report - caravanning has had a lot of great publicity this year and it seems a shame that what's probably one of its last news mentions of the year is a negative one, especially when caravans are what have allowed people to remain so close to their homes and to manage and monitor the repairs.

They could be living in mouldy old bedsits whilst this goes on but most seem to have new or very nearly new caravans which, according to previous posts, they'll then have the option to buy at knock-down prices.  Whether they then use them for holidays, or sell on for a profit is their choice, but at least it has allowed families to stay together, including pets.

OK - sorry - rant over.  I'll watch Sky News instead - save me getting annoyed with the BBC!

Freecamp ,that sounded almost like jealousy ?

My god ,how can you even think they are better off because of the flooding ? would you have like to have gone through that really ?? The ONLY reason htey are staying in caravans and getting them at reduced prices afterwards is because it is saving the insurance companies a packet ather than paying for them to stay in hotels for year! some of these families will be in their vans till next summer !! Then add to that the fact we have been told to ecpect it all to happen again ..soon!! + the fact hardly anyone in hull now can afford home insurance ( even the ones who were not flooded )

I cannot begin to imagine how heartbreaking it must be :(

Quote: Originally posted by Skatty on 18/12/2007

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South Africa ?

Have /had family across in Zimbabwe 

Sorry, Skatty but you've totally missed the point of my post.

" I don't mean to belittle in any way what they've gone through - I fully appreciate that many people lost things that have taken a lifetime to accrue and that one man lost his life - but they still have their home and, for many, once the repairs and refurbishments have been done, they'll be better than they were pre-flood."

This means I appreciate the hardship and distress the flooding caused to so many people.  My point was that seeing the family all together with their dog, warm and safe in their caravan, with its Sky+ remote control on view, and their Christmas lights in the window didn't really go with the "cold and damp caravan" picture the reporter was trying to portray.  The family said they'd "make the best of it", and I'm sure they'll have a great time.

No, of course I wouldn't have wanted to go through what the victims of the flood went through, no, I'm not jealous - really sorry, but that has to be one of the dumbest comments I've seen on here!

I have a huge amount of sympathy for all the victims - whether they were flooded or whether they're just nearby and will now struggle to get home insurance or be able to sell their homes in the future.  Like the rest of the country, though, I fully expect my home insurance premiums to rise to help compensate for the insurance companies' losses - I don't grudge any payouts to the victims - they paid their premiums and should rightly expect their policies to pay out in their time of need.

I do grudge that insurers will now refuse to cover these people so their risk is reduced but they'll still charge everyone more - even those of us lucky enough not to have to live with the risk of flood damage.

My caravan insurers didn't pay out when my awning was wrecked by a freak wind storm because it "should have been predicted".  In some but I know not all places, local authorities having been lax in providing or maintaining flood defences for many years so it's likely that the damage caused in the summer needn't have been so bad and that must make it so much worse for those affected - to think that the effects of the flood could have been mitigated against.

Once again, just to clarify, my complaint was about the portrayal of the situation by the BBC News - that was all.

Quote: Originally posted by Skatty on 18/12/2007

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South Africa ?

Have /had family across in Zimbabwe 

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yep still some people in there caravans in CATCLIFFE. ROTHERHAM

what year is it were coming up too 2008 never???

We are still in our caravan for cooking and eating, sleeping upstairs.  We have lovely neighours who moved to rented property whilst repairs were carried out and our caravan is sited in my front garden and half of theirs.  They have already moved back in to their house but have said that the van can stay there until the work is completed on ours.  We hope that they will start work on Monday 7th Jan, but just keep saying to ourselves it will look nice when it is finished.  If it is not done by our first trip out Dad will lend me his van for the weekend. (It took a lot of struggle to get van positioned in front garden, it is not moving until work complete).