Residents flee as dam wall fails
A Derbyshire town was evacuated yesterday after a reservoir dam above homes partially collapsed in heavy rain, posing ‘‘a significant threat to life’’.
The Environment Agency issued a severe flood warning, its most serious level of alert of a danger to life, for Whaley Bridge after part of the wall holding back 300 million gallons of water in the Toddbrook Reservoir crumbled away.
Police went door to door asking the town’s 6500 residents to meet at a school in the neighbouring town of Chapel-en-leFrith five kilometres away to prepare for evacuation. They were told to bring pets and medication because it may be days before they can return.
Experts from the Canal and River Trust were called in to assess the damage to the dam after heavy rain sent water cascading over the top and caused some of the panels on the townfacing side to collapse, appearing to leave a hole through the dam wall which looms over Whaley Bridge. The trust blocked some of the feeds leading into the River Goyt in an attempt to protect the town and pumped water out of the reservoir.
One resident said Whaley Bridge resembled a ghost town.
Anna Aspinall, 36, said residents had volunteered to lay sandbags but were told to leave, warned by structural engineers that ‘‘the wall is at high risk of falling’’. She said: ‘‘Residents are being evacuated along with businesses. We are praying [the dam wall] holds while the Canal and River Trust try to drain the water from the reservoir.’’
A severe flood warning was issued for the River Goyt down from the reservoir, amid fears it ‘‘could rise rapidly’’ because of the water coming from the reservoir, which was built in 1831.
Julie Sharman, chief operating officer of the Canal and River Trust, said: ‘‘The spillway for the dam has broken away. We are trying to lower the level of the water in the dam in order to reduce the risk of further erosion. There’s a risk the dam could break.’’
A major flooding incident was declared in Cheshire overnight on Wednesday, local time, after homes were inundated during heavy rains and rescuers had to paddle boats along flooded suburban streets to reach stranded residents.
Staff were clearing up after Lyme Park, the 600-year-old mansion and estate near Stockport, was hit by flooding on Tuesday. Several visitors had to be rescued by rangers after becoming separated from their vehicles by the rising floodwaters.
In Poynton, vehicles were trapped on flooded streets, while several homes and a nursery were swamped, leaving 11 people in need of rescue by firefighters. A yellow rain warning was issued by the Met Office yesterday covering an area from Preston down to Stoke-on-Trent.
There were 15 flood alerts, 5 flood warnings and one severe flood warning in place early yesterday, but another 35 flood warnings were no longer in force.