Whaley Bridge flooding: Boris Johnson visits evacuated villagers amid fears dam has ’50-50’ chance of collapse

RAF helicopter is dropping off 400 tonnes of aggregate in race to save damaged dam

Whaley Bridge: Efforts continue to prevent full dam collapse in Derbyshire town

Boris Johnson has visited residents evacuated from Whaley Bridge, a Derbyshire town near the Toddbrook Reservoir, which is at risk of being wiped out if the dam collapses.

An RAF helicopter has been drafted in to repair the dam amid fears it could collapse in what police have called an “unprecedented, fast-moving, emergency situation”.

The reservoir contains around 1.3m tonnes of water.

“The plan is to try and stop the dam breaking, clearly. And so a huge amount of effort is going into that,” Mr Johnson said to a group of residents when he visited the town on Friday evening.

“The Chinook’s been over putting in the aggregate and putting in the sandbags to try and stop it bursting. They’re pumping out huge amounts of water.”

“We’ve had an exceptional weather event, we must make sure that this dam can cope with it in the future,” he added.

“That will mean a major rebuild, clearly.”

The reservoir’s spillway partially crumbled on Thursday after heavy rain fell in the area.

The RAF Chibook has dropped around 400 tonnes of sanbags in an effort to repair the dam.

But officials said it was unclear how long the crisis would go on for. The reservoir’s water level has dropped by half a metre, but needs to drop by several more metres to be considered safe.

“We will be putting plans in place for residents to return to their home to pick up very vital things they need along with their animal welfare,” said Kem Mehmet of Derbyshire Police.

“This is very controlled, I must stress that, because this is still life at risk.”

Police have closed railway lines in the Whaley Bridge area over the risk of potential flooding.

The reservoir is on the north-west edge of the Peak District National Park and was built in 1831, according to experts, although the Environment Agency records it as being built in 1840-41.

Meanwhile, clean-up operations are under way across parts of the North West hit by heavy rain. Residents in Poynton in Cheshire were also evacuated on Wednesday night.

If you would like to see how the emergency response unfolded live, please see what was our live coverage below:

[2 August 2019 09:37 · emma.snaith]

Mountain rescue teams are assembling for the second day of relief efforts assisting Whaley Bridge residents. 

[2 August 2019 09:42 · emma.snaith]

 Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue have shared photos of the emergency effort to reduce the flow of water at Toddbrook Reservoir

[2 August 2019 09:45 · emma.snaith]

Carolyn Whittle, who lives in Whaley Bridge, said she had "never seen water flood over the dam like that". 

"I've lived in Whaley (Bridge) for the best part of 45 years, and I've never seen water flood over the dam like that, ever, nor thought that we could possibly be at risk in this way," she said. 

After thousands spent the night away from their homes, police said a timescale for evacuees returning is "currently unknown".

[2 August 2019 09:56 · emma.snaith]

Pictures from the scene show bags of aggregate piled up to reinforce a damaged section of the Toddbrook Reservoir dam.

An RAF Chinook helicopter has helped to move 500 tonnes of aggregate to the reservoir. 

There are also 150 firefighters at the reservoir using 16 high volume water pumps to reduce water levels.

Improving weather and work on the inflows means the amount of water entering the reservoir has reduced.

PA

Getty 

[2 August 2019 10:05 · emma.snaith]

 Melissa Welliver has shared a video of the RAF Chinook dropping aggregate at the damaged section of the Toddbrook Reservoir in an effort to stem the flow of water. 

[2 August 2019 10:13 · emma.snaith]

Jeremy Corbyn has said that the government has known for years that floods are the direct result of global warming amid continuing fears the Toddbrook Reservoir dam could collapse. The Labour leader says the government has failed to tackle the causes or prepare for the climate emergency.  

[2 August 2019 10:23 · emma.snaith]

Meanwhile, clean-up operations are under way across parts of the North West hit by heavy rain.

Residents in Poynton in Cheshire were also evacuated on Wednesday night.

The Environment Agency has 10 flood alerts, six flood warnings, and one severe flood warning in place across England.

[2 August 2019 10:32 · emma.snaith]

RAF Benson has shared a close-up video of the Chinook helicopter dropping hundreds of tonnes of sand on the badly damaged section of the Toddbrook Reservoir.

[2 August 2019 10:41 · emma.snaith]

Protecting the core of the 180-year-old Toddbrook Reservoir dam wall is vital to its survival, according to engineers who worked through the night to stabilise the structure.

The reservoir was built in 1831 using a method common to scores of other across the Pennines, with a puddled clay core supported by thousands of tonnes of earth.

Julie Sharman, chief operating officer of the Canal and River Trust, said the focus of the massive operation at the reservoir is to reduce pressure on the core and replace the load on it which was lost when the material above it was washed away.

She said this was being done using one-tonne bags of sand lifted into place by an RAF Chinook.

[2 August 2019 11:01 · emma.snaith]

Boris Johnson said the government will hold an emergency Cobra meeting later today to coordinate the response to the emergency at Toddbrook Reservoir. 

The prime minister said his thoughts were with those who have been evacuated from Whaley Bridge.