TWO DIE
TWO people died as Storm Dennis wreaked havoc across Britain yesterday.
A 19-year-old man drowned in giant waves brought on by the intense storm near Herne Bay, Kent, just after 12pm.
The body of a man who fell overboard from a tanker in rough seas near Margate, Kent, was brought to shore by coastguards at about 1pm.
A spokesman for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution said: “At around 1pm, after many hours of searching, a body was sadly found in the water by the RNLI Margate lifeboat and has been brought to shore.”
The 1,200 mile-wide Storm Dennis is set to cause “significant” floods today, with up to five inches of rain expected to fall.
Severe 70mph gusts caused hundreds of flight cancellations yesterday, while there was flooding misery across the country.
Troops were deployed in West Yorkshire to help flood-hit residents, who were badly hit by Storm Ciara’s deluge last weekend.
The MOD said 75 personnel from 4th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland, assisted the Environment Agency in constructing barriers and repairing flood defences in Ilkley and Calderdale.
And 70 reservists from 4th Battalion, the Yorkshire Regiment, were also tasked with providing support where required.
The Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: “Our Armed Forces are always ready to support local authorities and communities whenever they need it.
“The rapid response of the Army will help with provision of flood relief to local communities in West Yorkshire.”
The Environment Agency said the flooding caused by Storm Dennis was likely to be worse than last weekend due to rain falling on already saturated ground.
In England alone, 800 properties were left flooded when Storm Ciara struck.
Experts warned that the conditions amounted to a “perfect storm” and the Met Office issued eight weather warnings covering most of weekend.
These include amber warnings from midday yesterday over southern Scotland, northern England, Wales and parts of the South-west, saying that flooding could cause a danger to life.
The Met Office said the main the UK this areas of concern were north and south-west England and Wales, with south-east England bearing the brunt today.
Massive 28ft waves were forecast to hit the Southwest and Northwest coasts and satellite photos have revealed the storm is becoming a rare “sting jet cyclone”, similar to the Great Storm of 1987. Sting jet cyclones feature a hookshaped cloud wrapped around the storm centre, which creates ferocious gusts.
The Weather Company’s Greg Postel said: “Dennis could rival the most intense North Atlantic storms on record.”
The Environment Agency has issued 17 flood warnings, meaning
‘Rapid response of the Army will help the flood relief’