Heroic firefighters were praised for their swift actions during last night’s storm which caused severe flooding across Manchester.
Control operators at North West Fire Control received almost 200 hundred emergency calls about flooding incidents between 6pm last night and this morning – at the height of the storm they received over a hundred calls about the weather in just 90 minutes.
More than 30mm of rain in just over an hour fell in places and Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority chair, Councillor David Acton, said crews had fantastically well given the extreme weather.
“Our firefighters worked tirelessly to keep our communities safe last night. They did a superb job in very difficult circumstances, as did our control operators at North West Fire Control,” he said.
“This is the fourth time in 12 months Greater Manchester has been hit by widespread flooding and we expect there to be more extreme weather before the year ends.
“We have been working hard with our colleagues at the Greater Manchester Resilience Forum to help prepare for incidents like this and we will continue to do everything we can to ensure our communities remain resilient.”
Shortly before 6.30pm firefighters from Stockport were called to reports of a family trapped in a car by rising flood waters.
The crew found a woman and a boy who were out of the car and they checked the vehicle for further occupants. Paramedics treated the woman and child at the scene.
Around the same time a crew were called to a vets on Queens Road, Cheadle, after water started to affect the electrics in the surgery.
A crew from Hyde were called to The Village Club and Restaurant in Hyde at 7.36pm after water started to affect the electrics in the building.
At 9pm a crew from Salford were called to a high rise building in New Century Park, Manchester where they found a flooded basement car park.
The crew inspected the electrics and helped the building’s management team pump water out of the car park.
For all their efforts however the Fire Service receives no government funding and has no statutory obligation to respond to floods, despite being the first service people call during storms.
“We’re working with fire services across the UK to try and convince the Government to recognise our role in protecting people during floods and increase our funding,” added Cllr Acton.
“Our communities will face more extreme weather in the future and we will continue to do everything we can to protect them.”
A yellow severe weather warning for #rain has been issued: https://t.co/TmvTfmDfrK. Stay #weatheraware @metofficeuk pic.twitter.com/Ymx73yWm7d
— Met Office (@metoffice) 14 September 2016
Image courtesy of markkirk85 via flickr, with thanks.
