Floods in Cumbria force evacuations
Updated on 20 November 2009
A police officer is missing after a bridge collapsed during flooding that forced the evacuation of more than 200 people from their homes in Cumbria.
Four bridges collapsed, main roads were blocked and schools closed across the region.
More than 50 people have been airlifted from their homes in Cockermouth, Cumbria where flood waters reached eight feet overnight.
Around 150 people were also evacuated by lifeboat as hundreds of homes were flooded and some people broke through the roofs of their houses as the waters rose within.
The Met Office said that almost seven inches of rain fell in the Cumbria village Seathwaite over 24 hours and they predict another six inches of rain could fall on the highest fells of the Lake District today.
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Environment Secretary Hilary Benn, who is in Cockermouth, said it may have "the wettest day ever recorded" in the county.
He said that even defences built after the floods of 2005 to withstand a "one-in-100-years flood" could not cope with the volume of water.
John Carlin, owner of the Allerdale Court Hotel, situated in Cockermouth town centre, said he was staggered by the amount of rainfall.
He said: "I have lived here for 15 years and have never seen anything like it.
"At two o'clock it was raining heavily but there was nothing here but now there is four feet of water outside my front door. The amount of rain has been staggering.
"It's desperate. The town centre is completely flooded, the only people out there at the moment are the emergency services. The water is up to the waists of the firefighters.
"We are under six inches of water ourselves but we have still got electricity and the fire service have told us they are on standby if they need to evacuate us.
"I can see still see lights on outside. Our hotel electricity is in the cellar, I have tried to seal it up but we've lost it if it fills up."
In Keswick, the River Greta burst its banks forcing more homes to be evacuated but the levels stopped rising ni the early hours of the morning.
Cumbria Police opened a Casualty Bureau. Members of the public can telephone either 0800 0560944 or 0207 1580010 if they have concerns about friends or relatives affected by the floods they have not been able to contact.
