by Joe Jeffrey
Environment Agency deploys temporary defences and pumps as government rolls out army to deal with flood devastation
Flood alerts and severe weather warnings are in place across many parts of the country today as Storm Jonas continues to bring a deluge of strong winds and heavy rainfall, with military personnel deployed to some parts of the UK hit worst during last month’s devastating flooding.
At time of writing, North Yorkshire currently has three Environment Agency red warnings in place, with flooding expected to resonate from the overflow of the River Swale, affecting amenities close to it including Brompton-on-Swale Caravan Park and Rockcliffe Caravan Park.
Strong winds brought havoc to many parts of the country yesterday, which saw many road closures and the North East being hit hardest, including the A66 between North Yorkshire and Cumbria which was temporarily closed.
Environment secretary, Elizabeth Truss, said troops and temporary flood defences are now being deployed to flood-risk areas, whilst further funding was assured to those worst hit.
Truss told MPs: “Our immediate effort at the moment is make sure the response is ready in areas we think are affected. We already have military personnel deployed in Calder Valley, one of the areas we’re concerned about.”
With the sheer number of flood alerts in place across the country, including Wales, Scotland, Lancashire, Cumbria, Yorkshire and Devon and Cornwall, the Environment Agency (EA) has deployed a number of temporary defences and pumps.
The Met Office has said the impact of the rainfall would be made more severe because land is still saturated by the three bouts of heavy flooding over recent weeks.
Meanwhile, Neil Davies, the EA’s national flood duty manager, said: “With heavy rain this week, people in the North and South West need to be prepared for the risk of flooding. EA teams have been helping communities recover from the severe floods over Christmas. We are now preparing for further flooding as rain is expected to fall on ground left saturated after the wettest month on record.”
We here at CaravanTimes have visited the length and breadth of the UK during our time spent visiting many caravan parks and manufacturers and to imagine the destruction caused by the flooding across the country over the past number weeks is devastating to say the least – especially when considering the sheer amount of beauty many parts of the UK behold. Our thoughts are with those affected by these treacherous weather conditions at this time.
