11th Feb 2014 18:15
London (Alliance News) - Prime Minister David Cameron on Tuesday said he had cancelled a planned trip to the Middle East next week in order to take charge of relief operations in flood-hit areas.
Further heavy rainfall over the coming week is expected to worsen what has been one of Britain's wettest winters in years, with thousands of homes flooded and transport networks severely disrupted, mainly in southern England.
"Things may get worse before they get better," Cameron told reporters in London after visiting flood-hit areas in the counties of Dorset, Cornwall, Devon and Somerset, adding, "It will be a long haul."
He also promised that "money is no object" in the relief efforts.
The Environment Agency on Tuesday had 16 severe flood warnings in place, 14 in Berkshire and Surrey, where the River Thames burst its banks, and two in Somerset, where some areas have been flooded for over a month.
Hundreds more warnings and alerts were issued across the country, mainly in the south.
More than a thousand properties have been reported flooded over the past week, 800 along the Thames, and hundreds of people have been evacuated. Some residents have complained of looting from properties left empty.
Cameron said that 1,600 servicemen and women would have been mobilized to help with flood defences and relief operations by the end of the day and that thousands more would be made available.
He refused to be drawn into a row which has reportedly broken out in his Cabinet over the work of the Environment Agency, but also failed to offer much support for the agency's embattled chairman, Chris Smith.
Environment Secretary Owen Paterson has reportedly complained to Cameron about Communities Secretary Eric Pickles, who criticized the agency's advice at the weekend.
Agency staff on the ground were doing an "amazing job", said Cameron, adding "every minister, every head of an agency, everyone involved, needs to work together."
The Met Office predicted that south-west England would bear the brunt of severe winds on Wednesday, with gusts reaching 130 kilometres per hour and possibly further disrupting transport and power lines.
Copyright dpa