LOCAL RESCUE TEAMS HELP FLOOD-HIT CARLISLE RESIDENTS
Written by author on December 8, 2015
AS the big cleanup goes on the full extent of the damage caused by storm ‘DESMOND’ is being assessed on both sides of the border.
The cost will tun into tens of millions of pounds with Cumbria bearing the brunt of the damage with towns devastated and Carlisle one of the worst hit.
The Nith Inshore Rescue service from Glencaple was called out just before 11pm on Saturday night to go to Carlisle and they were joined by Coastguard teams from Annan, Portling and Kirkcudbright.
During the night they rescued between 100 and 150 people from the flood-hit Warwick Road area of Carlisle.
Nith took two rescue boats to the set and up base but were forced to move to higher ground as the flood waters swept in and reached a depth of six feet in some places.
The Nith Inshore Rescue and the three teams from the South West were the main rescue units in Carlisle overnight with reinforcements from the army and other areas being drafted in on Sunday morning.
A spokesman for the Nith Inshore Rescue said: “We deployed two boats working with Annan, Kirkcudbright and Portling Coastguards.
“Due to numerous major flooding incidents declared in Cumbria, Nith and the Coastguards were the only asset available to carry out multiple rescues in the Warwick Road area during the first eight hours.
“Over 150 people were rescued from flooded homes. The crew remained on standby at the Lifeboat Station due to a red alert for flooding in Dumfries.” He added: “During our work at Carlisle we dealt with a number of emergencies and in one case we had to call in a helicopter to rescue and mother and her young baby.
“I am really proud of the crews and the coastguard teams.”The clearing up operation has also been going on in Langholm and damage assessed. Roads in the area have also been hit and a landslide has blocked the C78A from A7 at Sorbie to the B709 near Burnfoot near the bridge.
