Word: flooded
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...until you begin to flood them with letters will action be taken," he said...
Given the contraction of the American economy, one wonders at what point one neglected leak will develop into a flood. Consider, for example, the implications of a coup in Saudi Arabia, the potential for which was starkly revealed in the take-over of the Great Mosque in Mecca--or in Egypt, where expectations of rapid economic development following on the heels of peace with Israel have been irresponsibly fueled by the leadership...
...centuries, London and other communities along the lower Thames have been raising their embankments. After a sudden flood in January 1928 killed 14 people, including four youngsters asleep in a Westminster basement, the walls along the Thames were elevated to more than 5 meters (17 ft.) above the mean water level. More recently, the height has been increased to nearly 6 meters (19 ft.). But even these towering embankments could not cope with an extreme combination of circumstances. While Thames tides normally do not exceed 4.6 meters (15 ft.), the level can be pushed far higher by sudden onslaughts...
This scenario is not the product of an avid Hollywood scriptwriter. It is a grim projection by British experts who know only too well that the apparently placid Thames can turn with little warning into a terrifying torrent. To forestall the disaster that a "worst case" Thames flood would produce, British engineers are rushing to complete by the end of 1982 an extraordinary project: a giant, movable steel and concrete flood barrier that in normal circumstances will allow the passage of large ships but rise up during flood threats to block the menacing waters...
Lying upriver about 96 km (60 miles) from the North Sea, London has through history been swamped by the rampages of the Thames. During a flood in 1236, reports one chronicle, "in the great palace of Westminster men did row with wherries [small skiffs] in the midst of the hall." In his diary entry for Dec. 7, 1663, Samuel Pepys wrote: "There was last night the greatest tide that ever was remembered in England to have been in this river: all Whitehall having been drowned." As recently as 1978, the Thames came within 30 cm (12 in.) of topping flood...