Army

Army Aids Emergency Services In Flood Effort

Soldiers have been working throughout the weekend to help people in Cumbria and Lancashire who were left homeless or at risk of flood following Storm Desmond.

Around 90 personnel from 2nd Battalion, The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, were deployed to the stricken areas in the early hours of Sunday morning after a request from the civilian authorities in both counties.

Within hours of being tasked soldiers were in Carlisle, Cumbria, and Hutton, Lancashire, carrying out work in support of other services under pressure from flooding caused by some of the highest recorded rainfall in recent times.

Duties included warning and informing residents about the flood risk and what actions to take, and transporting those affected to designated rest areas. Military vehicles also proved some of the most capable in accessing severely flooded routes.

Major Nick Higgins, Officer Commanding Blenheim Company, said:

"Our guys have been assisting Cumbria Police the RNLI and other civilian agencies in what has been a very demanding effort.

"Among the tasks we have been able to support was the evacuation of residents from the St Aidans district of Carlisle, which had been inundated by several feet of floodwater.

"It's been a long, demanding weekend for all of us, but I hope we have helped to alleviate some of the distress which is affecting these communities."

More heavy rain is expected to hit parts of northern England and Scotland this week as work continues to repair the flood damage.

Jessie Aru-Phillips spoke to the man overseeing the military operation in Carlisle, Lieutenant Colonel Hamish Cormack, Commanding Officer of 2 LANCS.

The government, meanwhile, has faced criticism after multi-million-pound defences built following catastrophic floods in 2005 failed to keep the deluge out from people's homes in Cumbria.

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Following an emergency government meeting on Sunday, Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss said Cumbria rain gauge figures showed a record amount had fallen in the 24 hours between Friday and Saturday evenings.

It measured 341mm in Honister, which is more than a month's worth of rainfall in just one day and more than the UK has experienced in such a short amount of time.

Ms Truss said more than 2,000 homes and businesses in the county had been flooded and promised further investments would be made to protect the area in the future. She said:

"We are delivering on our manifesto commitment to build 1,400 new flood defence schemes that will better protect 300,000 more homes. That's an extra £2.3 billion of capital investment to help our most at-risk communities."

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A tweet from David Cameron added:

"The thoughts of the country are with the people in Cumbria and the NW hit by flooding. The Govt is doing everything it can to help them."

But Cumbria County Council leader Stewart Young told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme:

"There does need to be an investigation into the flood defences. I will be talking to our local MPs later today and if the Environment Agency needs to revisit them then that's what's going to have to happen because we can't continue to have events like this in Cumbria, we just won't be able to cope."

Almost 60,000 homes in the county were left without power throughout Sunday as the floods damaged sub-stations and caused electrical faults. Electricity North West said that it had restored power to 24,000 homes by the evening.

Water supplies in a number of main towns were also affected by flood water and at least 20 schools are expected to remain closed today.

Cumbria Police also launched a search following reports of an elderly man falling into a swollen River Kent in Kendal.

An appeal by Cumbria Community Foundation to raise £1 million to support vulnerable individuals and families who have been badly affected by the floods is underway and has already raised well over £100,000.