He turned to his men and repeated the information before making a brief report on the radio to his HQ and requesting further instructions. As he now read the situation, with the water predominantly drained away, most of the bodies left on land were already dead. On their trek from the south side of the Thames Barrier, they had logged every corpse that was encountered. Every quarter hour, a radio report of their progress was made to Headquarters
At the command post, there was an immediate and brief discussion. As far as could be ascertained, although there was some damage to the river banks, most of the flooding had been caused by the height of the sea surge, simply flowing over the Barrier and the river defences. As the water later flowed back into the river, they could see in the moonlight that the river defences were still mostly intact. Intelligence was now building up, detailing the exact locations of a small number of breaches, as well as the position of the drowned bodies and the heavy, dumped detritus. Men and equipment were being diverted to those locations.
The secondary task of the army columns, was to assess the state of any and all survivors and how best to deal with them. The task, at first, seemed to be overwhelming. Specific contact was made with Scotland Yard and the London Fire and Rescue Headquarters. By the early hours of Friday morning, with power now restored to most of London, there were various teams working hard to move survivors to safety and to reopen the roads. The track of the massive wave, that had caused so much damage after washing over the river’s defences, was now seemingly etched onto the landscape with all the abandoned sea containers randomly deposited across roads and embedded in houses and shops. There were also a number of collapsed tower blocks adding to the chaos. Progress was at a snail’s pace and there was an increasing number of requests for heavy lifting equipment.
The army patrol at Waterloo Station was able to give much needed assistance to Milton and his teams as they extracted the bodies from the stairway tunnels leading down to the Underground. All the dead bodies being removed had either suffocated or simply been squashed to death. Hour after hour, the teams descended the stairways, while the stench of death increased around them.
The water on the platforms had also receded to some degree. With the tunnels being completely inundated, however, the water would have to be pumped out and the sheer mass of drowned bodies would make that a particularly delicate task. Every station in the centre of London was facing exactly these same difficulties.
On the north side of the river, the army patrols had encountered Fred and his colleagues ferrying survivors from the isle of Dogs up to the Salvation Army Citadel and the Seaman’s Rest. Fred had been able to requisition a car and drive to Newham Hospital, where the staff immediately commenced preparations for a massive influx of people.
The army patrols, with their equipment and vehicles, assisted with this work which immediately speeded up the evacuation. The soldiers were also able to move westwards into the city, where they found very little structural damage. They did encounter a large crowd around Bank station which reported that it was impossible to access the station itself because of the press of bodies.
With reports now coming in of the flooded road tunnels at Dartford, Blackwall and Rotherhithe, it was fast becoming apparent that movement north and south across the river would be severely curtailed. The Army was the first to report that, because all bridges would have to be assessed for structural damage, it was strategically vital to reopen the tunnels as soon as possible.
In Downing Street, the Prime Minister held an impromptu meeting with senior ministers at half past two in the morning. Since power was now restored, he was able to receive updates from Scotland Yard and the Army with increasing regularity. All over London, although all the Emergency Services had firstly experienced immediate difficulties coping with the lack of electricity and communication, this had not stopped their activities. Throughout the flooded areas, Fire and Rescue personnel were joined by ambulance responders, off duty police officers and a growing number of individual people helping the public to safety. Their work was considerably eased when power was restored, soon followed by the re-connection of the mobile phone networks.
Slowly but surely, the work of so many disconnected groups, either professionally led or just local volunteers, began to be coordinated and central controls were formed which began to direct operations, rather than simply compiling information.
All this information and more was relayed to the Prime Minister, but it was still dark outside and until the Army patrols began to report the state of the river defences at around midnight, no one really knew how disastrous the next tide might be.
“Colleagues, the situation facing us is very grave. To present the overall position, I have invited the Chief Executive of the Environment Agency to brief us.”
A middle-aged man stood up and removed his glasses. After briefly polishing the lenses, he looked at the members of the cabinet.
"Prime Minister, ladies and gentlemen. I cannot underplay the disaster that has overtaken London over the past twelve hours or so. You will all be aware of the cause of the sea surge up the river Thames. Those weather fronts have now passed from the United Kingdom and are diminishing in force as they drift eastwards over Northern and Central Europe. It is, perhaps, somewhat fortunate that the current weather is now giving us clear skies with a full moon. This has allowed some degree of observation to take place.
"Certain parts of London have been severely flooded. I am aware of the difficulties experienced here in Westminster. However, our local problems are nothing compared with those areas where the river banks were overwhelmed allowing sea containers to be washed into housing estates, industrial estates, London City airport and elsewhere, causing massive structural damage. The contaminated sea water has also inundated all the riverside sewage treatment works, as well as flooding foot, rail and road tunnels. There has been almost complete destruction of the river side infrastructure.
“I appreciate your first question will be: ‘Why were the river defences so inadequate?’ I do not believe that this is the time for apportioning blame, but it must be said that this Agency has been increasingly vocal in expressing its concerns over global warming, rising sea temperatures and the increasing ferocity of winter storms.”
He stopped and looked around the cabinet room. Very few caught his eye.
“I have brought with me the Executive Director of Flood and Coastal Risk Management. He will be able to answer specific questions as to where the flooding has occurred. He will not be open to interrogation as to the efficacy of the flood defences.”
The Prime Minister frowned slightly. He looked directly at the Chief Executive as he thanked him for his brief overview.
“Can you tell me why the flood defences failed so spectacularly, on both banks of the river, from the sea to Teddington in the west?”
"Thank you Prime Minister. The Thames Barrier was opened in 1984. The primary cause for its construction was the inundation of Canvey Island in 1953. It took various Governments over 30 years to recognise, plan for and finally construct a Barrier to control the flow of water in the river Thames. Even when it was built, there were those who stated that it was too low, but that was over forty years ago.
"From the Barrier to the sea, all the sea walls have been reconstructed. All are higher, many are of concrete and they tie in with the requirements of the Barrier itself.
"Further north, the sea walls have been strengthened and heightened on a regular, rolling programme and this work can be seen to have been successful as the flooding in East Anglia over the past two days has been negligible in comparison with the Thames Estuary and Northern Europe.
“The actual sea surge, caused by the two specific weather fronts, was of a height never witnessed before. We all talk glibly about ‘Once in a Lifetime Events’. Indeed, at the Agency, we plan, often in the face of considerable public opposition, to put into place appropriate protection. This surge was much more than a ‘Once in a Lifetime Event’. Statistically, it is unlikely ever to
happen again.” He now looked directly at the Prime Minister. “It remains to be seen whether the flood defences have failed or whether they were simply overwhelmed by these specific meteorological circumstances.”
“Excuse me,” the Home Secretary interrupted. “You aren’t answering the Prime Minister’s question. You aren’t even addressing it.”
“I’ll endeavour to be more candid, Home Secretary.” He looked at the Home Secretary and then round at the Chancellor and other ministers. "The sea is dangerous. When combined with hurricane force winds and spring tides, it is lethal. Any sea surge reaching land will rise higher and water will always try to find its level.
“The sea defences are too low. The Barrier is too low. The sea surge was too high – much too high.”
“One moment.” The Chancellor raised his hand. “Can you clarify the financial implications in your comments? Are you suggesting that higher sea defences would have saved London?”
“Actually, I’m not.” The Chief Executive looked at the Chancellor. "It is obvious that there will be an enormous cost to recover and rebuild the infrastructure. It will certainly run into billions. The sea surge, however, was of such an immense proportion that it would have inundated London whatever puny defences might have been put into place. Look over the North Sea at Holland. Communications have now been re-established and we are hearing that the coast from Amsterdam northwards has been completely washed away. The Zuider Zee gone. The polders gone. All the islands off the coast of Holland and northwest Germany – all gone.
“Here in Britain, we have always looked towards Holland for advice and leadership in respect of protection from the sea but in comparison, this event has probably been more disastrous for the Dutch economy than for the British. The loss of life in this disaster will be much more of a problem than any damage to the infrastructure.”
“Indeed it will.” Again the Home Secretary caught his attention. “It would appear that all the road tunnels under the Thames have been completely flooded. Why?”
“The methods of protection for the road tunnels are a matter for the Highways Agency. But from what we can ascertain at this time, it would appear that the sea surge came up river so quickly and was of such intensity that there was no time for the automatic protection systems to fully engage.”
As the discussion continued, the tide was flowing up the Thames, once again, with High Tide scheduled at about six o’clock. The sun would rise about an hour later.
By half past five, Martin and his family were well past breaking point. After clearing the rubble from under the bridge, access for the trucks carrying bags of hard core eased considerably. The breach was already closed and the metal sheeting, snaking across the breach, was increasingly well bolstered with bricks and hard core. Wayne and his colleagues were bringing even more with increasingly regularity down the track and through the ruined bridge.
The tide was almost full and the sea had already reached the top of their temporary structure. It was another spring tide and, in places, the water was already slopping over the top of the temporary wall. However, the sea was calm and there was no wind.
As the next truck arrived, carrying eight large bags of hard core, Martin realised that they could now start to build a third layer, which would make the wall higher than the sea. He called over to Wayne.
“Look! I think we’ve done it.” He pointed to the truck offloading the hard core.
“You’re right. Mind you, we’ll have to complete this new level. The water slopping over the top is making it trickier for the trucks to turn.”
“Yes. I’m not sure what to suggest.” Martin watched as the last bag was swung into place. The driver brought back the jib and drove forward six feet, before reversing towards the ditch. “Hey! I don’t think he should be doing that just there. The ground’s too wet.”
“Watch out!” Wayne shouted, waving his arms. “Stop!” He was too late. Slowly and gently, the truck slipped backwards, down the muddy bank into the ditch, which was now quickly refilling with sea water. Wayne ran to the driver’s door.
“Johnny, are you OK?” The driver looked up, somewhat bewildered.
“Yes, boss. Bloody hell, that was a bit careless.”
“Bit careless, my arse, you daft prat! We can’t pull you out now. We’ll have to do that after the tide has turned.”
The driver of the next truck in the line had stopped and watched open mouthed as the vehicle slipped into the ditch. Wayne walked up to the cab.
“This is now going to get messy and much more difficult. I think it’ll be best for you to drop off your bags and then drive forward well past the breach. Find a dry spot with enough room to reverse and make sure you reverse towards the wall and not the ditch.”
“Yes, boss,” the driver replied.
“You’ll find a suitable place to turn just round the next curve in the wall,” Martin added. “I turned round there earlier on and it was fine.”
“There’s not many places to pass another wagon.” The driver remarked.
“As soon as you’ve turned, wait until the next wagon arrives to turn round. You can then pass him, come back to the bridge and cross over. We’ll make sure the way is clear before we let the next truck across.”
“OK. Got it!”
And with that he drove his truck to the wall where he started to off load his big bags of hard core. Water was already seeping through the wall as well as slopping over the top, making the track very slippery. When the last bag was in place, he drove off and Martin waved the next truck into place, as James took up position on the other side of the bridge over the ditch. He was explaining the problem to the next driver, as the first truck returned and crossed the bridge. James now waved the fully laden flatbed across. It made its way to the wall and unloaded his bags of hard core without mishap, before disappearing round the bend in the track. Immediately the second empty truck reappeared and drove over the bridge. The system seemed to be working, as James was explaining the problem to the next driver.
Wayne helped his driver of the stricken truck out of the cab and onto the track.
“High tide will soon pass. It’s nearly six o’clock. When the tide has turned and when we’ve got these bags all in place, we’ll pull you out.”
“Thanks, boss.”
“Listen Johnny. We’re all knackered and we’re all working on adrenalin. You made a simple mistake and we’re all just going to have to live with it. As soon as the sun’s up, we’ll be able to assess the situation more carefully. If we can get you out without too much difficulty, we’ll be able to put it all down to experience.”
Martin looked towards the east and realised that a mist was forming, hiding the coming dawn. There was no wind and the air was surprisingly warm. As he looked at the flood lights, he could see the tendrils of mist wrapping themselves around the lights. He climbed up the wall to look over the river. He could no longer see lights in any direction and realised that the river mist was already well formed. He turned and looked to the north, towards the railway bridge. It too had disappeared in the mist.
At Waterloo Station, when Milton and his teams were joined by the soldiers, they were able to leave to the military the grim task of extracting the rest of the bodies from the entrances and stairways to the Underground. The silence, as they worked, was depressing. Slowly, one by one, the bodies were extracted and, equally slowly, the teams were able to descend step by step. When they reached the first bend, they came across their last living casualties. A small boy had lost his footing on the stairway and his mother had caught hold of the handrail to form a barrier over her son. A second person, a man, immediately grabbed the handrail behind her and together they were able to force the crowd away from the child. The man linked both his hands around the handrail and dipped his shoulder into the crowd, bracing his feet adding further protection to the child. The boy’s mother knelt over her boy to form a protecting bridge. But the weight of the press was too much.
As more and more people pus
hed up the stairway, the man first felt his wrists break before his breath was forced out of his lungs by the sheer weight of people behind him. His final screams of agony were lost in the noise and bedlam all around him. Because his fingers were interlinked, his hands remained locked around the hand rail. The press was so great that he was unable to breathe in and he suffocated to death, but in that death his body continued to protect the mother and her son.
The soldiers found them forced into a corner of the stairway. The mother was barely alive when they reached her. She was breathing with difficulty and, as the soldiers carried her to the surface, she wept uncontrollably. Her young son walked by her side holding her hand as they climbed up the steps and emerged onto the platform.
As they reached the surface, they saw a military medical unit that was already in operation. They were immediately ushered inside the temporary accommodation that had been erected on the concourse. Communications with local hospitals were now up and running, but the Accident and Emergency Departments were already completely overwhelmed. Plans for a tented facility to be set up on Clapham Common were already being executed, because the three more local parks, Kennington, Burgess and Southwark were all flooded.
Already, the army had flown in the necessary infrastructure to create the appropriate departments from wards with beds to operating theatres, from waiting rooms to treatment rooms. A team of ambulances, buses, cars and taxis were already transferring the injured from Waterloo Station to Clapham.
On the north side of the Thames, the army had linked up with the police and the Fire Service and, together, they were setting up a similar facility in Hyde Park. Through the night, more units joined the original Army HQs on either side of the Thames Barrier. High Tide came at six o’clock and the various units that previously assessed the river defences were now ready to deal with any further flooding. Because the weather was now calm, it was regarded as a miracle that the expected weak points remained firm with no further damage and as each hour passed, the critical danger receded.
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