I think we will all remember the night of Tuesday 18th July for it’s belter of a stormy night including massive thunderstorms and heavy downpours. As far as we are concerned in the Valley, the really intense downpour seemed to last under an hour but it resulted in Valley Road becoming awash near the Village Hall. This was a huge danger to passing cars hitting a flooded road at speed.

During the course of this year, the Council have fulfilled their promises to clear drains and ditches; they have assured us that the drainage would cope with a heavy downpour and that Valley Road and houses would not flood. However, the night’s storm resulted in what most of us residents had suspected – that a cloudburst would overwhelm the drains and flood the road and send water cascading down from the road, along pavements and into residents properties along Valley Road near the Village Hall.

Fortunately, the worst damage inflicted seems to have been the results of road water flooding garages, and we are not aware of any getting into houses. One or two of us will have flagged an issue with Transport for Bucks, but it seems unlikely that much will happen.

Perhaps a new action plan is needed before a prolonged storm floods houses.

A few grainy photos below don’t really get across the extent of the problem.