Tributes to hero PC Bill Barker who died saving Cumbria flood victims

Nov 21 2009 The Journal

Last night, a rescue operation was continuing in Cockermouth – the town worst affected – with people still being winched to safety as darkness fell.

Both rivers that run through the town burst their banks, blocking roads and forcing more than 200 people to leave their homes.

Four bridges collapsed in the county and schools were used as makeshift community centres after the deluge struck.

Mr Mayes said the storm was of “Biblical proportions”.

“The fact that there’s eight feet of water in some places is not that surprising.

“Primarily, it’s the sheer quantity in the last 36 hours that has caused the flooding. But in November the ground is saturated. The rain can’t get into the soil, it just runs off. That means rivers rise very quickly and suddenly.”

Red Cross worker Ian Rideout said many of the people rescued in the town were suffering from shock.

He said: “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.

“We’ve been working non-stop and between the Red Cross and RNLI we’ve rescued in the region of 200 people from their homes. Last night, I went up in one of the helicopters to get an idea of the full scale of the disaster and where we should focus rescue efforts. Almost straight away we found four people on the roof of their home who needed to be winched to safety.

“Most of the people we’ve rescued have been in shock. One minute it’s raining heavily, then the next their home is filling with water and they’re being evacuated by the Red Cross.”

People in the town said they were worried that rain forecast for today and tomorrow would bring more problems.

Resident Alan Smith spoke oh his concernms. He said: “The thing with the River Cocker is it can fall as quickly as it can rise. It’s come down four foot from last night but the fells are sodden and if we get any more rain, it will just come straight off and into the river and the level will rise again. If we have persistent rain like last night and the day before, we will be back to square one.”

The worst hit areas of Cumbria were expected to get some respite from the rain last night but more bad weather is expected over the weekend.

Tony Conlon, a forecaster with Meteo Group UK, the weather division of the Press Association, said: “More rain will arrive on Saturday morning.

“It will not be as heavy as it’s been over the last two days but it will become quite heavy in the afternoon and it will affect the same areas that have been affected over the last few days.”

Go to www.journallive.co.uk for footage shot from the Great North Air Ambulance filmed as part of The Journal’s sister paper, the Sunday Sun’s campaign to raise funds to buy another helicopter. Online, you can also find a video package and picture gallery from the floods.