Cumbria floods: bridge fears
Updated on 22 November 2009
A safety review of all 1,800 bridges in Cumbria is under way after severe flooding caused extensive damage to homes and roads in the county.
Around 20,000 flood defence bags are to be handed out to people in Cockermouth and Keswick.
Tonight, 19 flood warnings were still in place across the country.
In Wales, fears are growing for a 21-year-old woman believed to have been swept away by the River Usk, prompting a mile-long search by fire and mountain rescue teams.
In Devon, a 46-year-old canoeist, Chris Wheeler, died after being pulled from the River Dart and in Cumbria the devastation continues as the community is cut in half by the Derwent river.
With 16 bridges closed over safety fears, six have already collapsed.
Northside bridge was the first to break, killing Police Constable Bill Barker.
Half a mile upstream, the Calva Bridge has been declared beyond repair having dropped around a foot in height.
