Sunday, 25 November 2012

Weather: More than 800 homes flooded as heavy rain and high winds batter Britain - Telegraph.co.uk

In Earith, Cambs., a 70-year-old man drowned after his car plunged into the River Great Ouse. Motorists pulled him out and tried to rivive him with CPR, without success.

In Cornwall, special rest centres were set up in areas worst affected while the Environment Agency issued severe flood warnings in four villages in the region.

There are some 260 flood alerts in England and Wales and more than 200 other flood warnings in place across England.

Of these, nearly 70 are in the South West and around 100 in the Midlands.

National Rail said the severe weather had caused disruptions to rail services.

David Cameron today tweeted: "Shocking scenes of flooding in Cornwall and around the country. Govt will help ensure everything is being done to help."

In Blagdon, Somerset, a 12-month old baby was rescued by boat with her parents from a stranded car by firefighters.

In North Curry, near Taunton, a 90-year-old woman was rescued after spending four days trapped in an upstairs bedroom of her home due to high floodwaters. Diana Mallows, who used to work for the Royal Navy, was carried down a ladder by firefighters and pulled to dry land in a rubber dinghy.

Andy Newland, from Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, said: "She's lived in that house on the Somerset Levels for 35 years and has seen flooding before – but never as bad as this."

Warwickshire Fire & Rescue received more than 45 calls to flooding incidents between midnight and 6am on Saturday evening. These included cars marooned on roads in flood water and flooded properties.

A 70-year-old man died after his 4x4 was swept away as he attempted to cross a ford in Chew Stoke, Somerset.

Another couple of inches of rain is expected to hit the South West of England and Wales this afternoon and this evening. Winds up to 50mph are also forecasted around the coast and South West.

Tom Tobler, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said rain could cause further damage in areas already affected by flooding.

"We've got another low pressure system coming in from the South West today and that's going to bring heavy rain to South West England and Wales," he said.

"With the amount of rain they've had yesterday it will exacerbate the problems."

In Plymouth, Devon, about 60 people were evacuated due to safety concerns in a dozen locations while there were numerous reports of people being stuck in their cars as some motorists attempted to drive through flooded roads.

Residents of a nursing home at Cullompton, Devon, were evacuated as a precaution due to water levels.

Ten people were evacuated from the tiny community of Portholland near Mevagissey overnight after a landslip towards the east of the coastal village.

Devon and Cornwall Police said part of the cliff behind five houses had given way due to the weather. As a result, 10 people were evacuated and put up overnight in a local hotel.

Severe flooding hit Newlyn in Cornwall (Picture:SWNS)

The village of Millbrook in Cornwall was reportedly under 5ft of water and there were reports of torrents of muddy water cascading down the road into the village and people's homes.

Officers rescued a number of young ducks being raised in a caged area on a river in the centre of Dawlish, cutting the cage open with bolt cutters to stop them drowning in the rising water.

Warwickshire Fire & Rescue said that in one incident it took fire crews more than three hours to rescue three people stuck on the roof of their car which had become marooned in flood water in Preston Bagot.

Officials were alerted to the incident just after 3am and a crew was sent from Leamington.

However, the crew experienced difficulties in getting to the incident due to the roads being severely flooded, Warwickshire Fire and Rescue said.

The crews requested a boat but the nearest was located nearly 40 miles away in Evesham, Worcestershire, and there was a delay in gaining access to the boat due to the floods.

Crews kept in touch with the stranded occupants of the car on their mobile phone until the boat rescued them just after 6am.

In another incident, crews were called to three people being trapped in a car under a bridge in Coventry Road, Church Lawford, just before 2.30am. They were rescued by firefighters and treated for hypothermia.

Crews were also called to a man marooned in his car in floodwater in Oak Tree Lane in Sambourne just before 3am. He was rescued 30 minutes later and also treated for hypothermia.

West Mercia Police warned members of the public not to drive through standing water after rescuing 20 people from their vehicles overnight.

The force said there had been issues with standing water in the region, particularly in the Kempsey area, where at one point there was up to 10 inches of water covering the A38. There were also issues in Tunbury Wells, a force spokesperson said.

Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service rescued 28 people overnight and said they were continuing to receive calls from members of the public for advice on flooding.

A man stands in floodwaters in Tewkesbury (Picture: AFP)

In Solihull, a number of roads have been closed or have become impassable due to flood water.

Roads affected include the A452 between Stonebridge Island and Patricks Island, Watery Lane, Friday Lane, Balsall Street and Kenilworth Road between Knowle & Balsall Common.

Aqueduct Road, Peterbrook Road, Creynolds Lane, Brueton Park, Boxtrees Road and Barston Lane have also been affected, West Midlands Police said.

Environment Minister Richard Benyon told BBC Breakfast that environmental teams had been working around the clock in recent days to ensure river courses and water ways were not blocked.

He said: "We recognise that while somewhere over 400 homes have been flooded, we have actually managed to protect over 24,000 homes by recently-constructed flood defences, and so that is, if you like, the silver lining to this cloud."

Mr Benyon encouraged people to sign up to the Environment Agency's free flood warnings, which would give them time to react to more rain.

He praised the work of the various agencies that had dealt with the recent flooding and said localised management of flood situations by local authorities, emergency services and the Environment Agency appeared to be working.

Mr Benyon told the BBC: "They will have the local resilience policies in place and my understanding is that it has worked pretty well.

"Thus far the system works, but we want to get people back in their homes as quickly as possible.

"This (flooding) is a big issue, and it has been a big issue for a number of years, about how quickly we can get those properties back in business and back at home if they are someone's home."

He also said he wanted to protect businesses as well as homes, highlighting the plight of farmers on the Somerset Levels whose land has been used to hold flood water.

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