Warwickshire News Mine

At 8pm this evening Warwickshire Police, in consultation with Warwickshire County Council and Stratford District Council, declared today’s floods a ‘major emergency’.

The operation saw agencies from highways and care services, through to the fire and police, working together to ensure people received help quickly and efficiently.

Rest centres were available at Stratford High School, Henley High School, Shipston High School, and Wellesbourne Conservative Club to try and provide a warm and dry respite for people caught in today’s floods.

People caught in cars and unable to get home, and those whose homes were flooded, took advantage of the rest centres, provided by Warwickshire County Council.

Warwickshire County Council’s fire and rescue service received approaching 500 calls, and similarly Warwickshire Police received 450 calls.

David Vazquez, Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service’s Area Risk Manager, said: “We appreciate the public’s patience during this operation where we received an extremely high number of calls in a short period of time.

“I would like to stress though that this is not a time for apathy, and I urge people to remain vigilant against the dangers of fire. Power cuts have been experienced in parts of the county, and the temptation arises to use candles. This can be extremely dangerous, and is best avoided.”

Warwickshire Police Assistant Chief Constable Lewis Benjamin said: “This has been a huge combined operation under the umbrella of Operation Lima. This emergency presented both the emergency services and the local authorities with an enormous logistical and human challenge. The fact that the county’s services were able to cope with the huge demand and assist the people of Warwickshire, owes much to the planning and coordination set out in the local resilience forum.”

Jeremy Lee, Warwickshire County Council’s Emergency Planning Manager, said: “The public faced extreme conditions and behaved in an extremely responsible way. They responded magnificently in the face of adversity.”

Graeme Betts, the county council’s Director of Adult, Health and Community Services, said: “I would like to reassure people that we are striving to ensure care levels are maintained for some of our most vulnerable residents.

“This is a time when true community spirit should show, and neighbours should look out for the vulnerable members of the community, and make sure they are not going without or suffering.”

Stratford District Council activated its own emergency plan and been responding to incidents.

Severe flood warnings were in place on several of the county’s rivers, both in the north and south of Warwickshire.

There were also more than 30 roads closed in the county, including main routes in Nuneaton, Rugby and Stratford.

Link to WCC