Warwickshire News Mine

At 8pm on Friday evening Warwickshire Police, in consultation with Warwickshire County Council and Stratford District Council, declared the 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.

During the peak of the flooding on Friday night into Saturday morning, the Royal Air Force worked with the county council’s emergency planning team and the police to carry out three separate helicopter rescues in the south of the county.

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 the floods. Approaching 150 people spent the night in rest centres on Friday evening.

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 with hot drinks and food provided by the local authority’s county caterers service.

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

Cllr Alan Farnell, Leader of Warwickshire County Council, said: “I have been extremely impressed with how the breadth of Warwickshire County Council and partner services have come together to try and help people caught in the weekend’s flooding.

“The floods presented both the emergency services and the local authorities with an enormous logistical and human challenge. The fact that we 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.”

Severe flood warnings have now been lifted on all of the rivers in the county.

There were also more than 60 roads closed in the county, including main routes in Nuneaton, Rugby, Leamington and Stratford.

Link to WCC