You don’t have to be a believer in global warming to recognise that domestic flooding is on the increase. It may, of course, be something to do with the fact that we are building homes on floodplains in a way that would have been seen as foolhardy a generation ago (ie before we warmed the globe).
Today’s invention is a housemoving service called in when a flood threatens a community. A small fleet of vans drive around and offer to move items of furniture upstairs or to another place of safety until the flood waters recede. The depository might actually take the form of a big barge, or a series of covered pontoons.
This would be funded by insurance companies, in order to reduce the claims made on them. Residents refusing the offer to relocate their belongings would obviously find it much harder to pursue claims for damages later.
A similar pre-emergency service might also be provided in areas threatened by forest fires, mud slides etc.
