UK rain testing patience, finances
Rain continues to flood parts of the UK, putting infrastructure and everyone's patience to the test. Jim Boulden reports.
If residents around this part of Surrey want to travel, it's by boat or wading boots. These small homes along the River Thames have been flooded for days. Though it's knee-high here. Some say it's double the usual level of flooding.
And here you see this man moving his 19-year-old daughter out of their house and his golf clubs as well.
Some residents are taking refugee in the local pub. The Flower Pot is seeing a lot of business.
I've lived here in almost my whole life, and I've not seen any as bad as this.
But it's good for business. It's very good for business.
Jaslin Serman and her husband are going back and forth using the pub to charge phones and to use the Internet.
We were directly on the water front. So we know we are in the flood plain.
So you have flood insurance? No. We are self-insured on flood side 'cause it's just, you know, the premium is too high.
The flooding is much worse in the southwest of England. The government has taken a lot of heat for its flood management.
Money is no object in this relief effort. Whatever money is needed for it will be spent.
January saw more rain than ever recorded in the UK. Cost estimates are one and a half billion dollars and with more rain forecast - it's set to rise.
I think the total economic losses will take a while to add up. And what we are talking about in our numbers are the direct damage to property and having that repaired.
It's not clear if the Thames has crested. Until then, residents watch the water and the skies for any respite.