This is Dorset -- SOUTH West MEP Julie Girling is to contact Environment Secretary Owen Paterson in a bid to unlock emergency aid from Brussels for local flood victims. The EU's Solidarity Fund, which was set up to provide financial assistance to EU countries struck by major disasters, has a budget of up to £414 million for 2014. Mrs Girling said: "The region is being regularly battered by these terrible storms and local people need the support of Europe to repair the damage and prevent flooding in the future." The fund has been used to help areas devastated by floods in the past, including along the Danube river in 2010. Mrs Girling added: "We need a long term plan in place to prevent this tragedy happening year on year. It destroys homes and businesses and the same areas are being hit again and again. We can't do anything to stop the storms coming off the Atlantic but we can minimise their impact when they do. I will be doing everything I can to secure this emergency funding."
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