Pair dead as Britain braces for 2nd storm

LONDON — Rescuers pulled two male bodies from rough seas off the coast of southeast England and military personnel mobilized to help build flood barriers Saturday as Britain braced for a second straight weekend of stormy weather.

The fourth named storm of the season, dubbed Dennis by Britain’s Met Office weather service, prompted widespread travel disruptions and had the potential to cause more damage than last weekend’s Storm Ciara.

The body of one man was pulled out of the sea by a lifeboat from the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and followed a sevenhour search that involved a Royal Navy vessel. The search commenced before dawn after a distress call came from the B Gas Margrethe, a Maltese tanker that had been anchored off the coastal town of Margate.

In a separate incident, the body of a second man was pulled from the sea.

The Met Office had 31 flood warnings in place around England. Another 26 were issued in Scotland and six in Wales.

The storm was expected to deepen late Saturday and Sunday. The storm could produce winds of up to 98 mph and monster waves above 100 feet high, according to the U.S. National Weather Service’s Ocean Prediction Center.

Much of the concern about storm dangers focused on northern England, which suffered during Storm Ciara. At least eight people were killed across Europe during that storm.

On Saturday, around 75 British army personnel and 70 reservists were helping out stretched communities in the flood-hit Calder Valley region in West Yorkshire, constructing barriers and repairing damaged flood defenses.

“Our armed forces are always ready to support local authorities and communities whenever they need it,” Britain’s Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said.