U.K. races to aid of dam

LONDON — Emergency workers raced Saturday to lower water levels behind a damaged dam in northwest England as forecasters warned that more bad weather is on the way.

Pumps have reduced the water level in Toddbrook Reservoir by 20 inches since Thursday, but authorities warn that pressure on the 180-year-old dam remains severe.

A Royal Air Force helicopter continued precision drops of sandbags into a gaping hole on the dam, while specialist contractors placed concrete grouting around the bags to bind them together.

Images from the operation showed personnel hanging out of the side of the Chinook, directing the bags into the hole to fill gaps — like a craftsman smoothing plaster. Hundreds of 1-ton bags had been dropped in the past few days, said Daniel Greenhalgh of the Canal & River Trust, which manages the dam.

“This is still a critical situation,” Greenhalgh told the BBC. “We need to draw the water down significantly.”

The dam was damaged after heavy rain sent torrents of water rushing over its spillway. Britain’s meteorological office is warning of more rain today, along with a risk of floods and lightning strikes.

Firefighters have sent in large pumps to pull water out of the reservoir and into the River Goyt.

Emergency crews are now pumping 5.6 tons of water per minute, and inlets into the reservoir are also being dammed off to block any floodwaters today.

“We are hoping the weather will be kind to us,” Derbyshire Deputy Chief Fire Officer Gavin Tomlinson said Saturday. “But everyone is working as hard as possible to get ahead of the curve and remove as much water as possible today, overnight and into tomorrow, to minimize the impact of any bad weather that does materialize.”

More than 1,000 people were evacuated from the town of Whaley Bridge, about 175 miles north of London.

AP/YUI MOK A bag of aggregate — a mixture of sand, gravel and stone — is thrown Saturday onto the damaged Toddbrook Reservoir near the village of Whaley Bridge in Derbyshire, England.