Deluge fails to dampen Glastonbury spirits
More than 100,000 festival goers were recovering from a drenching at Glastonbury today after two inches ofrain fell in three hours in the early hours.
Torrents of water poured through the 1,000 acre site during the massive thunderstorms and the start of performances on the main stages were delayed as technicians carried out a major clean up operation to ensure the power supplies were safe.
Festival goers reacted with equanimity to the floods: “We just got very wet but we are still at Glastonbury so it is still good to be here,” said 24 year old Kevin Evans from Balham, London.
And festival boss Michael Eavis was still looking forward to the performance by headline band Coldplay tomorrow: “They are number one in 22 countries and the best band in the world at the moment,” he said.
Parts of the site remained flooded this afternoon and the fire service brought in a high volume pumping system to help bypass the site’s natural drainage, which was clogged by debris from the flood.
The rest of the site remained inches deep in mud and public health officials warned festival goers against cooling off in the remaining pools of water which remained in low-lying areas.
Festival goers splashed their way around the sit and one bar manager reported a customer heading for his bar in a canoe to beat the floods.
But only a few performances were lost to the weather and by this afternoon, festival goers were enjoying the music almost unaffected by the remaining water.
Festival officials insisted that the site was functioning fully despite the torrential rain, but some food in the market areas had to be scrapped because of contamination by flood water and full power was not restored to the whole site until this afternoon.
There were no reports of damage to festival facilities or major injuries, although an ambulance spokesperson said 19 patients had been helped, some for drug related incidents and others for slips, trips and falls.
Festival welfare officials had to open a third welfare centre during the night to help people who had been affected by the flood water with nearly 100 clients using their services.
Further resources were being made available today in case more rain exacerbated the situation.
Arrests at the festival were slightly up, police said, largely because of increased security which had led to more drugs being found during searches and the identification process necessary for festival goers to gain admittance to the site. Most of the 87 arrests were drug related, said spokesman Sgt Frazer Davey.
