Does Tonbridge need to order in those sand bags?...

I exchanged pleasantries with an elderly fella near the small wooden bridge next to the Angel Centre car park that takes you around the back of the High Street next to the old Benn building, Sovereign House. Are you following me? Only half joking I asked him whether he thought Tonbridge was going to flood again; he replied, again only half joking, that he thought I might be right. This gentleman was probably a young man if he lived in the town in 1968; this was the last time we had serious flooding in Tonbridge and the main reason the flood barrier at Leigh was given the go ahead. You can see pictures of it in local history books: policemen helping stranded residents and shopkeepers who tried in vain to stop the waters from coming into their buildings and had to be rescued by rowing boat; you know the sort of thing. The Medway has been bursting its banks throughout its history but we only really hear about the more recent ones. We had a close shave around the year 2000 when the newly built swimming pool, built next to the river, had to close for a million pound refurbishment and installation of flood protection walls. Without scare mongering too much TonbridgeBlog asks are we in for another close shave? Is global warming to blame? Or is it just that eventually the forces of nature always have and always will conquer our best man made efforts? I can't remember ever having seen the river level at the Little Bridge quite as high as this. Gulp!...