Council works around the clock through storms
Allerdale Borough Council is proud of the way
its staff coped with the emergencies caused by the recent extreme
weather conditions.
The Council had to set up an emergency
reception centre to look after Cockermouth residents flooded out of
their homes as well as around 90 runners evacuated from the Lake
District fells when competitors in an endurance test also fell
victim to the horrendous storms.
Debbie Keir, of Allerdale Borough Council’s
Emergency Planning team, arrived at the emergency reception centre
– set up at Cockermouth School – at 8pm on the Saturday that the
storms hit and did not leave until 1pm the following
Sunday.
She co-ordinated the operation, working with
other volunteers through the night to ensure freezing-cold
fell runners and frightened elderly people who had been flooded out
of their homes were well looked after.
Debbie was relieved by David Martin, Director
of Partnerships and Community, at Cockermouth School at 10am on
Sunday morning, who managed the reception centre until it closed at
2pm on Sunday afternoon.
Allerdale Borough Council’s Customer Services
manager Alison Miller drove through three floods herself to
open up the emergency call centre in Workington’s Town Hall on the
Saturday evening. Ruth Clarke, manning the Council’s Out of Hours
service had been taking an increasing number of calls from
residents and relatives looking for information about residents.
Alison and her team handled the increased number of calls from
people wanting sandbags because flood waters were rising in places
like Wigton, Cockermouth, Aspatria, Keswick and Flimby.
The Council’s Construction Services manager,
Dave Bryden, and his team managed to send out hundreds of sandbags
to homes right across Allerdale, getting them to where they were
needed most and minimising the impact of the flood waters.
The Council’s Environmental Services team had
put extra road sweepers out throughout the week in advance of the
forecasted floods, sweeping in particular around Keswick,
Borrowdale Road and Cockermouth. These helped to clear fallen
leaves from drains in advance of Saturday’s storm in order to
reduce obstructions to water drainage.
The team also sent out extra crews on Sunday
morning with an early morning briefing to sweeper drivers to clear
leaf-fall from drain tops and other debris –
targeting areas identified from the Environment Agency
website where water levels were high.
Councillor Sam Standage, Allerdale Borough
Council Executive member with responsibility for Emergency
Planning, said: “In the event of an emergency, such as the recent
floods, Allerdale Borough Council has an emergency plan which
details how the Council will respond to an emergency. Emergency
Planning staff within the Council are well-trained and are able to
respond promptly and effectively to an incident.”
If you would like advice on preparing for emergencies, please
contact Allerdale Borough Council on 01900 702562 or email emergency.planning@allerdale.gov.uk.
In case of emergency, the out of hours number is 01900 871080, or
to request sandbags call 01900 702770.