Flood Response in Cumbria
IRC crews were involved in the rescue of over 50 people by boat in the town of Cockermouth as a result of severe flooding across the Cumbrian region. The multi-agency emergency response swung into action on Thursday night under the coordination of the Police, as the speed of the rising flood water caught many residents and shop owners by surprise.
Ray Gray, leading the 14 strong response team, described operating in the flood water as some of the worst conditions he had ever seen in the UK;
“The narrow streets and huge amount of flood water created extremely fast currents and boat crews operating in the flooded streets had to be alert to the added danger of debris coming towards them at speed - including cars and items like fridges”
The rescue crew remained on standby in the town through Friday night due to further heavy rain forecast for the area and was stood down at midday on Saturday.
Due to the force of the water, several of the buildings in the town were also at risk of collapsing and an offer to perform initial building assessments was accepted; a role familiar to the team faced with earthquake damage overseas.
An assessment from the air was also completed for buildings of structural concern.
Support for command centre
At the incident command centre in Cockermouth Fire Station, IRC provided logistics support for 48 hours to the multi-agency command team which co-ordinated the rescue effort.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited the town on Saturday morning. Talking to the IRC team at the command centre, he thanked them for their dedication and said it showed great teamwork to see a team more used to international rescue work working side by side the emergency services in a time of crisis.
