No trains can travel beyond Exeter and thousands of homes are without electricity.
And the Government's own advisors have described the Government's policy on flooding as 'going in the wrong direction'.
The Committee on Climate change says the floods debate is far too narrow, and insist the whole water system in the UK needs to be re-engineered to catch water on the uplands and prevent flooding downstream.
They comment that while scientists are predicting more severe weather, new buildings are still being allowed on flood plains, gardens are still being paved over and urban green space is being lost.
How should the government and others respond in the face of these storms of all sorts?
In our most recent Sunday worship, our focus was on the story of Jesus and the disciples being caught in a dangerous storm. 'The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”
When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and the raging waves. Suddenly the storm stopped and all was calm. Then he asked them, “Where is your faith?”
The disciples were terrified and amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “When he gives a command, even the wind and waves obey him!” (Luke 8.23-25)
The earliest Christian art often represented the Church of God as a boat, probably because of the many times Jesus and his disciples were in boats on the Sea of Galilee.
This highly significant story reminds us all that the One in the storm-tossed boat with us is indeed the Creator of the winds and the waves. The disciples' reaction of being terrified and amazed in the very presence of Jesus is not often our experience. Sadly, it seems as if we domesticated Jesus, so that he is more like a comforting pet to most of us.
Might it be that it is only people who have been taken into some much greater storms that learn to see him in his awesome power.
Best wishes,
Richard
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