David Cameron Confronted By Angry Flood Victim During Yalding Village Visit

Cameron Confronted By Angry Flood Victim
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David Cameron appeared to be rattled after he was confronted by an angry flood victim as he visited a village seriously affected by the latest Christmas storms.

Erica Olivares, 49, said her local council had done nothing to help villagers in Yalding, Kent, where homes were severely damaged in the latest storms.

In a heated on-camera exchange with the Prime Minister, the woman said she had been left stranded in her home with no electricity. No mentioned of the incident was made when the PM tweeted. (See Below)

Ms Olivares told Cameron she was "absolutely disgusted" by the response of government agencies.

"We were literally abandoned," she told the prime minister in the street outside her devastated 18th-century cottage.

"We had no rescuers, no nothing for the whole day."

Mr Cameron asked what she needed and urged her to "get on to the council", but she replied: "They all decided to go on holiday."

Mr Cameron tried to defuse the confrontation by promising to contact the council himself. He then moved on to another property.

Speaking to the cameras in Yalding, Mr Cameron said the severity of flooding in the area made it difficult to ensure homes were protected.

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Cameron talks to residents about the flood problems they've faced

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He said: "Sandbags should be made available. Here they were given warnings. There were warnings from the Environment

Agency but they weren't always accurate but they did know flood action was coming.

"Look at this man's house, I was just talking to. That was a flood barrier he got after 2000 - quite a high flood barrier. But this was such a massive flood the water went over the flood barrier and into the house.

"Sometimes these are very, very tragic events. It is impossible to protect everybody against everything but we have got to do more and we have got to do better."

Meanwhile, around 10,000 homes are without power in North Wales, which has been blasted by 100mph winds last night and today, with the worst affected areas in Gwynedd, Anglesey and the Llyn Peninsula.

ScottishPower said the biggest issue affecting the electricity network was uprooted trees and other debris blown on to overhead power lines, which has caused damage and brought down lines in some areas.