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Floods strike Britain; Thames rising - Yahoo! News

TEWKESBURY, England - Emergency workers rescued hundreds of trapped people Monday as water swallowed swaths of central England in the worst flooding to hit the country for 60 years. Officials said some rivers were still rising, with the western section of the rain-swollen River Thames on the verge of bursting its banks.

Roads and parking lots were submerged, trains suspended, buses canceled. Hundreds of thousands of people were without electricity or drinking water, and farmers saw their summer crops destroyed.

Torrential rains have plagued Britain over the past month — nearly 5 inches fell in some areas on Friday alone — and more downpours were predicted this week.

"This emergency is far from over and further flooding is extremely likely," Environment Secretary Hilary Benn told lawmakers in the House of Commons.

Labels: Climate change, World news