From defence of the seas to defence from the seas | @guardianletters

Off By Sharon Black

In 2013 the Ministry of Defence indicated that the armed services’ role was possibly moving away from the views of the electorate. The severe flooding creates a perfect role for a natural disaster defence operation. Be it power lines, water defences, forest and heath fires, a fully trained and co-ordinated response using the abilities of the forces and their equipment is increasingly necessary to restore services, roads, railways etc and to provide immediate transport to residents.
John Loader
Leyburn, North Yorkshire

• With all this catastrophic flooding in Somerset, I’ve lost track of other news. Is the government still planning to proceed with its plans for the £17bn nuclear power plant at nearby Hinkley Point?
Alan Davis
St Austell, Cornwall

• Since the sea has now become our enemy, I suggest we nuke it. Teach the elements a lesson. Vaporise a few cubic miles of ocean out west where all this weather’s coming from. This is at least as sensible a suggestion as any I have heard for putting Trident to practical use – and morally superior to others that would incinerate millions of people in a blinding flash.
Richard Bradshaw
Yarm, North Yorkshire

• Battleships or sea walls?
David Hayes
Bristol

• Why is this government always seeking to blame someone else for every failure on their watch? The previous Labour government and the EU are perennial targets and the Environment Agency is just the latest in a long list. The “not me, gov” government.
Derek Haselden
Ross-on-Wye

• As seas rise and south-east England sinks, has the Environment Agency considered dredging the North Sea?
Richard Lewis
Middlesbrough

• The government is pushing all-out for fracking, which will make climate change far worse, offering local authorities millions of pounds in business rates incentives. And then it cuts the Environment Agency’s budget, and tries to blame it for the flooding.
Dr Bob Banks
Grindleford, Derbyshire

• Taking my cue from your excellent Weatherwatch, I discovered that one of David Cameron’s previous environment secretaries, Caroline Spelman, in February 2012 thought “Drought may be the new norm” and that GM drought-resistant crops were part of the solution.
John Cook
Bookham, Surrey

• I would like to draw the attention of the RSPB and others keen to provide enormous wetland spaces for birds to the plight of the thousands of land mammals and insects which are destroyed during these floods. What happens to the hares and foxes and voles and the millions of beetles?
Stephanie Groves
Wells, Somerset

• Flooding in the Thames Valley. Solid Tory territory. Bet that gets things done.
Tim Feest
Godalming, Surrey

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