Scots soldiers drafted in as village faces being swamped for SECOND time in week

THEY were warned to brace themselves for another storm – but the sight of soldiers ready to address damage threatened to break hearts and undermine Yorkshire grit.

Residents in the close-knit village of Mytholmroyd woke yesterday to find troops from the 4th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland, on their streets, the clearest sign that the Calder Valley was due for another devastating flood.

Since 2012, the village has flooded three times – the last only a week ago when torrential rain from Storm Ciara caused the River Calder to swell to a record 16ft. Some 500 homes and 400 businesses in the area were flooded. Soldiers on the streets meant that once more, those homes and treasured possessions, potentially even lives, were under threat. Around 100 troops were helping to build temporary metal flood defences ready for Storm Dennis.

Last week’s muddy brown floodwater had overwhelmed the area, prompting anger that a

£30 million flood defence scheme was taking too long to complete.

Resident Cynthia Stringer, 68, said: ‘They built the new wall about a foot lower than the old one – that’s never going to work, is it? The water just poured over the top.’ Many people whose homes back on to the river have either temporarily moved out or carried everything they own upstairs and out of harm’s way.

Those who have chosen to stay have stocked up on food and bottled water.

They certainly know the drill. First, there is a warning text message from the Environment Agency, followed by the flood sirens sounding in Mytholmroyd and along the Calder Valley.

Resident Nick Ames, 51, said: ‘There’s no point in crying about any of this – all you do is just add to the flood level. I think most people here have a “keep calm and carry on” approach.’