Weather warnings to remain in place as flood cleanup begins

A major clean-up operation is underway after hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes due to flooding in north-west England.

Torrential rain began on New Year’s Eve and caused flooding across vast areas of Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Cheshire.

Greater Manchester Police, which declared a major incident, said it was a time of “disruption and crisis” and that officers were supporting displaced residents.

Twenty flood warnings are in place across the North West New snow and ice warnings.

Evacuation centers have been opened in Wigan, Stockport and Ormskirk, Lancashire to help people who had to leave their homes.

Four hundred residents had to be evacuated from flats at Meadow Mill in Stockport after the car park and lower floors were flooded. The rescue operation continued for 12 hours.

Despite the water now receding, people said they have been told they may not be allowed to return to their properties until Friday as clean-up work and power is restored to the building.

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) said they had evacuated 115 flats in Meadow Hill.

Steve Twinn, of GMFRS, said: “Hopefully between the building owner and the local authority they can start to manage people eventually coming back onto the premises, although we know it will probably be at least 24 hours. Maybe, if not 48 hours”.

Five hundred residents also had to be evacuated from the Britannia Hotel in West Didsbury.

The Environment Agency said river levels will remain high in some parts of the region today and are urging people to stay away from swollen rivers and not drive through flood water.

A number of roads are closed across the area, including Platt Bridge and the Ashton area of ​​Wigan, Rainford in Lancashire and Northwich and Parbould, Warrington and Cheshire.

The westbound carriageway of the M56 between junctions 6 and 7 has now reopened after being closed due to an accident, the National Highways said. Aqueduct collapsed on Bridgewater Canal,

Narrowboat owner Dianne Taylor, who currently lives on the Bridgewater Canal in Dunham Massey in Cheshire, told the BBC that she usually travels along the canals in the North West every two to three days, but because of the flooding, she Has not done this. To be able to move.

She said: “Personally, I think we could be stuck here for months.”

Gabrielle Dainty, who lives in Lyme, Warrington, said today’s program His house was flooded due to “ringing of bells” on New Year’s Eve.

She said: “It was really unexpected.

“We had a flood right after Hurricane Christoph and we saw it coming and we were prepared, we had never had a flood before but we had time.

“This year, we didn’t have time, it all got done and cleaned up in a matter of hours and it happened really quickly.”

He said the street was flooded and residents spent some time clearing drains and picking up belongings but “there came a point where we needed to go inside and save our belongings.”

Ms Dainty said she is currently living upstairs in her home with no support from the council or letting agents, as her home is owned by HS2.

Residents in the area said that after Hurricane Christoph, protection was installed outside the doors to prevent flooding, but this time Ms Dainty said water came through the floor, rendering the protection “useless”.

Professor Steven Broomhead, chief executive of Warrington Borough Council, said the council was not “going slow” in the recovery and clean-up operation.

“We have spent the last 24 hours completely focused on supporting individuals and businesses and preventing life-threatening risks,” he told the Today programme.

“We have evacuated 140 people and 35 pets to two rest centers and our focus is now on improving conditions, worsening weather with snow has not helped so far.”

He said the council and emergency services had worked really hard to deal with the situation in Warrington which was “completely unexpected”.

Some train and bus services are being canceled or delayed.

Northern said it had canceled or diverted services between Manchester Piccadilly and Sheffield and New Mills Central due to severe flooding.

The B Network said tram and train services had largely been restored, but the snow was now causing delays and cancellations on some of its services on the Manchester Airport line and at Cornbrook.

About 3.5 inches (90 mm) of rain fell in northwest England in the past 24 hours, while more than 3.9 inches fell on some hills in North Wales and Cumbria.

Flood waters have begun to recede but a new weather warning for snow is now expected.

The Met Office said around 5cm of snow was expected across northern England over the weekend.