Homes evacuated as heavy rain brings more flood misery
Residents tell of ordeal as rivers burst their banks after record rain with areas on flood red alert again
HUNDREDS of people were evacuated from their homes and thousands left without electricity after heavy rain brought further flooding to the UK.
More than 360 flood alerts were issued across the country yesterday.
Twenty severe flood warnings were issued for northern England by the Environment Agency after forecasters warned that up to a month’s worth of rain – 4.7ins (120mm) – was set to fall on areas that were already saturated. The Met Office also issued two red “danger to life” alerts in the Lancashire area and Yorkshire and the Humber.
York was also on alert last night with six severe flood warnings in place and waters predicted to peak at around 16ft (5m) above normal summer levels tomorrow afternoon.
Flooding caused travel chaos including the opening of a 20ft pothole on the M62, between junctions 19 and 20, near Rochdale, Greater Manchester.
PARTS of Britain suffered further flood misery yesterday as at least two rivers burst their banks and the Army was deployed on to the submerged streets of Cumbria to help with relief operations.
More than 360 flood alerts were in place across England, Wales and Scotland, including 20 at the most severe level, meaning there was a danger to life.
The warnings came after forecasters said up to 4.7in (120mm) of rain could fall in some areas that were already saturated by wave after wave of heavy winter squalls.
The Met Office also issued two red alerts for rain in the Lancashire area, plus for Yorkshire and the Humber.
It is the first time two of these “danger to life” warnings – which advise people to “take action”, expect disruption to travel and to be prepared to evacuate their homes – have been issued in the same day. Eleven flood warnings were issued in Scotland, covering the Borders and Tayside areas.
A Downing Street spokesman said David Cameron would visit flood affected areas tomorrow.
The Prime Minister, whom officials said did not want to get in the way of rescue officials today, also announced that he would chair a meeting of the Cobra committee.
Amongst the worst hit by the latest deluge was the village of Walsden, in the Calder Valley, West Yorkshire.
King Street, its main road, was submerged and some residents were evac- uated from homes by rescuers using boats as water levels continued to rise.
Kellie Hughes, a hairdresser who lives in the street, said the situation was “a million times worse” than a fortnight ago, when the same road was flooded.
“It’s just horrific, really bad,” she said. “I’ve got the sandbags down here and [am] just doing the best I possibly can. There are no more sandbags anywhere. People are panicking. That’s my business and my home, it’s a double whammy.”
Abbi Blackburn described how she was stranded in her home in Walsden as 5ft of water poured into the cellar.
“It’s getting quite bad and it’s still walloping down with rain,” she said yesterday. “We didn’t have any sandbags. It started at about 6am.
“We’ve lost two freezers, my washer and dryer. It’s at least 5ft deep down there. The Environment Agency rang up and said something about evacuation but we’re not leaving, we’re staying put.
“It’s coming down, coming up and coming in. The road is totally submerged, it’s been like that for hours.”
The nearby market town of Todmorden was also hit, with the floods continuing to rise as the rain kept falling.
Lee Fraser, who lives on the town’s Halifax Road, said that the road between Todmorden and the village of Hebden Bridge had been submerged.
“It’s getting worse and worse, it’s been raining really heavily since last night,” he said yesterday. “The siren went off at about 7am and 10 minutes later everything started flooding.
“A lot of people are moving their stuff upstairs in their houses and the police came and closed the roads. It’s absolutely tipping it down, so it’s only going to get worse by the look of it.”
Rebecca Marshall, who also lives in Todmorden, said the town was cut off after all the roads were closed, with floodwater “inches” from the top of the defence wall.
“At the moment in our house it’s ankle deep,” she said. “There’s about 3ft of water outside our door. With no electricity we will have to move out. All the roads in and out of Todmorden have been closed, I don’t think we can get out of the town.”
She said family and friends had rallied round in support and she praised the town’s strong sense of community.
“All we can do is go up and down the road to try and make sure everyone is all right,” she said. “We have had friends and family turn up from all over the place offering to help.”
The first sign that it was going to be a difficult day for many came when the River Calder burst its banks yesterday morning, flooding significant stretches of the Calderdale town of Mytholmroyd, including homes and shops.
The waters nearly reached first-floor windows and dozens of residents were evacuated from their homes.
Signs in Halifax warned drivers that roads into Todmorden and Mytholmroyd were closed due to flooding, with police stopping traffic on the A646 Burnley Road, near Mytholmroyd. At Luddendenfoot a row of houses and a bowling club were left under water.
Just hours later the River Ribble also burst its banks, flooding part of the Lancashire village of Ribchester. Residents were told to abandon their houses when flood waters poured through the streets after torrential downpours.
Both villages had been issued with severe flood warnings.
Elsewhere, there was a gas explosion at around 4.30pm in Radcliffe in Greater Manchester, which has been hit by major flooding. Police said the blast, caused by a ruptured gas main, may have been the result of flooding.
Saeed Atcha, a radio presenter, said: “All of a sudden we heard a bang, we looked over to where the sound came from and couldn’t see anything. Then a second later there was another explosion and then a big orange beam lit up the sky, like a flash.
A former pub in Summerseat, near Bury, collapsed as a result after the River Irwell flooded. The 200-year-old former Waterside pub and restaurant sits on a bridge over the Irwell, leading to fears the crossing may also collapse.
Around 10,000 homes in Rochdale lost their electricity supply after flood waters hit a main substation.
Officials at Electricity North West said extra engineers have been on standby and teams were working to repair the damage.
There was also serious flooding across North Wales, including at Beaumaris in Anglesey, with people told not to venture on to the roads unless “absolutely essential”.
Rory Stewart, the floods minister, suggested climate change might explain the current high levels of rain, which he described as unprecedented.
Mr Stewart, whose constituency of Penrith and The Border lies in the flood zone, said: “We’re looking potentially again at maybe a month’s rainfall coming in a day. That’s falling on ground that’s very saturated. As the rain falls, the rivers respond very quickly. Certainly what we’ve seen is rainfall levels that nobody’s ever seen before.
“If somebody had said two years ago when we were designing these flood defences that we could get 13in of rain in a day, the answer from the engineers would have been ‘Why are you making that kind of prediction? We have never seen this before’. I think this is why people are right to start focusing on uncertainty and why people obviously are very interested in the question of climate change.”
As the rains continued to fall, soldiers from the 2nd Bn Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment were mobilised to help build miles of temporary flood defences across the North West.
The Environment Agency (EA) said 85 per cent of the country’s temporary flood barriers had been sent to Cumbria, where rainfall has exceeded records. Greg Dewhurst, a Met Office forecaster, said the latest weather was “unusual” when the mild conditions this month were taken into account.
“As you can see from the rainfall figures from this weekend it’s very similar to what we’d expect across the whole month, so it is unusual to see such a prolonged unsettled spell,” he said.
More than 700 EA staff were on standby to bolster flood defences, as more sandbags and water pumps were rushed to Cumbria.
Staff set up portable flood barriers in Warwick Bridge, Braithwaite and Appleby with the assistance of the Army.
Teams were also dispatched across the Lakes area to Workington, Glenridding, Kendal, Carlisle and Keswick.
Major Nick Higgins, of the 2nd Bn, said: “The people of Appleby, and the surrounding area we have been operating in, have been massively affected by these storms and it’s important that we are here to help them.”
Flood defence gates were closed in Carlisle, Keswick and Cockermouth and EA staff transported more than a mile of temporary flood barriers and more than 20 extra pumps north.
Agency teams were also checking and maintaining existing flood defences, clearing blockages in watercourses and monitoring water levels.
The Met Office has issued an amber alert for Cumbria, highlighting the increased likelihood of “medium impacts” from the rain, meaning some flooding of homes, businesses and transport links is possible.
The continuing risk of flooding led to the Government’s emergency Cobra committee meeting on Christmas Day.
There was another emergency meeting yesterday morning, in response to heavy rainfall overnight and in preparation for further downpours. Elizabeth Truss, the Environment Secretary, who chaired the meeting, said: “Our priority throughout this period continues to be protecting lives, protecting homes and protecting businesses.”
The latest deluge came as towns and villages across Cumbria were still clearing up the aftermath of Storm Desmond
‘We’re looking again at a month’s rainfall coming in one day, on ground that is already saturated’
earlier this month, which flooded hundreds of homes and businesses.
Approximately 40 roads and bridges remain damaged and closed, along with hundreds of homes left uninhabitable. Cluanie Inn in Glenmoriston, Inverness, saw the most rain overnight from Friday into Saturday, with 0.78in (19.8mm) recorded between 5pm and 5am, a Met Office spokesman said. Elsewhere, the EA said that for the next three days along the Severn in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin and Worcestershire, and the Ouse in York, there was a possibility of flooding, travel disruption and delays due to temporary flood defences being deployed.
High tides are also expected, bringing the potential for large waves along parts of the south and west coast.
The atrocious weather caused football games, including Blackburn versus Middlesbrough, and race meetings to be called off. The match between Blackpool and Oldham was postponed, as were games between Hartlepool and Notts County, Morecambe and Mansfield plus Accrington and Carlisle. Wetherby races officials cancelled both days of its Christmas fixture.
‘Eighty-five per cent of the UK’s temporary flood barriers have been sent North as record rain falls’