Fire service in 100 rescues
Warwickshire County Council’s Fire and Rescue Service took over 500 calls this weekend and carried out over 100 rescues of residents caught up in the floods.
Crews from across the county worked tirelessly throughout the weekend rescuing people from stranded vehicles, evacuating elderly people from their homes, carrying out water rescues using the boats and pumping water away from homes using the high volume pump units.
The areas worst hit were mainly in the south of the county in Wellesbourne, Shipston, Alcester, Southam and Stratford.
Acting / Deputy County Fire Officer, Glen Ranger said: “The first call came in at around 9.30am on Friday and they continued until mid afternoon on Sunday. The County Council’s emergency plan was put into action during the morning but the situation deteriorated and the floods were officially declared as a major emergency at around 8pm on Friday . I would like to thank all of the crews, control staff and emergency planning team who worked around the clock to ensure that saving the lives of residents in Warwickshire was paramount.
“There were a few scary moments throughout the weekend, one of which happened during a rescue, where crews in the boats were turned over by the waters. Undeterred they got back into the boat and attempted a rescue for the second time. A lot of the rescues carried out over the weekend were done in partnership with the police, ambulance and the RAF.”
As well as dealing with incidents in Warwickshire the service has also assisted with incidents in Gloucestershire deploying a high volume pump unit.