Freak flooding turns the UK into water world
Ferry Online Travel News 23/11/2009
One fatality reported, and hundreds evacuated
Hundreds of people in the UK and Ireland were forced to evacuate their homes this weekend, as torrential rain caused rivers to rise and towns to flood.
The rains, which are said the be the heaviest experienced in Britain for a thousand years, struck over the weekend and were particularly heavy in Cumbria, which suffered through a 314.4mm lashing in just 24 hours.
The heavy rain created mass flooding and caused a number of buildings collapse, especially in the Cumbrian town of Cockermouth. Tragedy struck when a bridge collapsed here and 44-year-old policeman -- Bill Barker, who was standing on the bridge at the time, drowned.
According to the Environment Agency, the flooding across the region was the highest level measured in England since records began. Cockermouth was affected the worst, with 1,000 homes underwater and 200 evacuated to prevent further tragedy.
Ian Rideout is a Red Cross worker and was on the scene to help out. In a recent interview he referred to the deluge as “biblical” and added that: "The centre of Cockermouth looks like it has been completely destroyed - I've never seen anything like it. The water has caused so much damage that many of the homes here are completely ruined."
In fact, the situation became so bad that even the Queen issued a public statement, saying on Saturday that: "I am deeply concerned and saddened by the dreadful flooding across Britain.”
Ireland was also affected and Environment Minister John Gormley declared that Cork, Clare and Galway were hit the hardest. In a press statement Gormley admitted that: "These are some of the worst floods we have seen in many parts of the country in living memory and our priority must be to help those people whose lives and livelihoods have been so badly hit by these events.”
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