Community hailed one year on from floods

Nov 19 2010 by Coreena Ford, The Journal

THE community spirit of Cumbria has been hailed, one year on from the “biblical” floods which cut a devastating swathe through the lives of thousands in the county.

Unstoppable rising waters claimed one life and flooded 2,200 properties – including 1,500 homes – with hundreds of people plucked to safety by firefighters, helicopters and other rescue workers.

The downpour began on Wednesday November 18 but intensified the following day. It was the highest level of rainfall in England since records began.

Streets became raging rivers and fields turned into lakes, with homes and shops wrecked and much of the county cut off as roads and bridges were washed away.

Cockermouth, where the rivers Derwent and Cocker meet, saw water levels reach 8ft in places and of the town’s 691 flooded homes, 10% are still empty - due to wrangling over insurance claims.

Businesses, however, are slowly recovering.

Les Tickner, Cockermouth town centre flood recovery voordinator for Allerdale Borough Council, said businesses were looking upon the floods as an opportunity to improve the overall look of the town’s main shopping street. “I think people are reflecting on what happened but are looking forward. There is a lot of positivity,” he said.

“My figures show 93% of the 225 businesses which were affected are now back in and looking better than before.

“Rather than putting shop fronts back as they were, we’ve reverted to the Georgian heritage style, which makes it a big draw for visitors.”

Many traders have returned, including Alison Watson, 38, who lost £80,000 of stock after her toy shop on the main street was flooded .

“The town is still a long way off where it should be,” she said.

“Some people are back up and running but every third shop has been left as it was when the floods hit. But it has brought a lot of community spirit out, everybody is trying to help each other.

“It has always been a friendly little town but now everybody is working together. Where people used to pass by on the street they now stop and talk to you. Visitors to the town coming into the shops will come and ask ‘were you affected by the floods?’”