Storm Desmond victims to receive rates waiver
AN estimated 5,000 households and companies forced from their properties by flooding in Cumbria and Lancashire are to be given temporary relief from their council tax and business rates.
The tax waiver was agreed at a meeting of the Government’s Cobra emergencies committee in Whitehall, as thousands of people across the north of England and Scotland were clearing up after the devastation caused by Storm Desmond.
Ministers were told that the situation on the ground was improving following the record rainfall seen at the weekend, but that emergency services remain on “high alert” because of the possibility of further wet weather in the days to come.
The Cobra meeting, chaired by Communities Secretary Greg Clark, heard details of the efforts of emergency services and the military to make contact with every isolated rural community cut off by the flooding.
Ministers heard that power has been restored to all properties in Lancashire which lost electricity during the storms, while the lights were back on in Cumbria with the exception of buildings which have had to be evacuated and left empty because of flooding.
Virgin Trains reopened West Coast Main Line rail services through Cumbria and military engineers have been assisting highways authorities in getting roads back into use.
Mr Clark’s Department for Communities and Local Government is finalising details of precisely who will qualify for council tax and business rate relief, and how long the waiver will be available. No estimate of the overall cost of the move was immediately available.
Environment Secretary Liz Truss, who visited the flood-hit area to view recovery work, defended the Government’s level of readiness.
Ms Truss told ITV1’s Good Morning Britain: “It is always difficult to judge when there might be an extreme event and what we do have to be is prepared.
“That is why as soon as we saw the weather forecast at the start of the weekend, we made sure the army was here, supporting people locally, we put in place cross-government Cobra and I am here... to make sure that all the local people have all the support they need.”
Electricity North West engineers restored power to Lancaster, Morecambe and surrounding areas early yesterday, but customers were asked to use electricity sparingly and to be prepared for possible managed power cuts while repairs continue.
Meanwhile, some 1,047 properties remained without power in Cumbria.
Mark Williamson, operations director at Electricity North West, said: “We know how difficult this situation is for everyone involved and we are doing the best we can to manage power supplies for everyone.”
Cumbria Police said its estimated worst-case scenario was that as many as 6,425 homes were flooded in the county after Desmond struck. The Environment Agency had previously put the figure at around 5,200.
Some 16 severe flood warnings remained in place on the rivers Eden, Caldew and Petteril in and around Carlisle and the River Wyre in Lancashire.
The Met Office has issued a severe weather warning for rain this week as northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland brace themselves for more heavy downpours.
It comes as Storm Desmond has already claimed lives across the UK.
A body thought to be that of an elderly man was discovered in the swollen River Kent in Cumbria, while Irish police recovered the body of Ivan Vaughan, 70, in Co Monaghan.
A 90-year-old man, Ernie Crouch, died after he was apparently blown into the side of a moving bus by strong winds near Finchley Central Tube station in London on Saturday.
Police said the body recovered from the River Kent on Monday was that of a 78-year-old man from the Staveley area.
A Cumbria Constabulary spokeswoman said they would not release his identity because it was being treated as “a non-suspicious death”.
Meanwhile, police said there had been “some isolated incidents” of flooded properties being targeted by “a couple of opportunistic individuals”.
On Monday a burglary took place at a business in Walkmill Crescent, Carlisle, where alcohol and cash worth £4,000 was stolen.
Tools valued at £3,000 were also stolen from a flooded property in Edenhall, Penrith, between 4.30pm on Sunday and 11am on Monday,
Extra patrols have been deployed in areas that have been severely affected by flooding.