- As many as a 1,000 people were stranded in north Cornwall
last night as torrential storms triggered a devastating deluge of flooding,
causing a 10 foot wall of sea to wash over a village.
-
- There were scenes of chaos across the picturesque Cornish
enclaves of Boscastle, Tintagel and Camelford as heavy rainfall caused
flooding of depths of up to 10 feet.
-
- Seven helicopters worked through the night to airlift
an estimated 150 people to safety across north Cornwall, while at least
three people were feared missing. The hub of the damage was in Boscastle,
one of the oldest fishing ports in Cornwall.
-
- It was here that a 10ft wall of sea poured over the harbour
and into narrow streets of the village, trapping 60 people in their homes,
washing 50 vehicles out to sea and causing at least six buildings to collapse.
Parts of Bude were also reported to be under six foot of seawater, in the
worst cases of flooding witnessed in half a century.
-
- But amid the chaos of the flood came moments of bravery
among the rescue workers who worked through the night. Those winched to
safety included a heart attack victim and a patient who required urgent
kidney dialysis.
-
- Meanwhile, a baby stranded with parents in a flooded
car for nearly an hour was placed inside a rucksack around the neck of
a rescue worker, who was then hoisted on to a helicopter. "All the
way down that river bank we are picking people out of trees and taking
them out of cars," said Michael Mulford, a spokesman for RAF Kinloss,
which was coordinating the military rescue effort. This is the biggest
combined incident we have had in many, many years. It is very seldom we
have more than two helicopters at one scene. To get seven is remarkable."
-
- The location of Boscastle, which is set in a coomb where
two valleys and three rivers meet, may have made it more vulnerable to
the torrid rainfall.
-
- Yesterday's emergency began just before 4pm, after more
than two inches of rain fell around Boscastle in two hours. The river Valancy
burst its banks, and part of the main A39 road was closed, with some areas
flooded by water 10 feet deep. Dozens of vehicles were washed into the
harbour of the picturesque village. Wayne Grundy, a holidaymaker, told
Sky News that he saw parked cars washed out to sea. "Cars started
coming down the high street and then out to sea. I saw a caravan and two
cars washed over the top of a bridge."
-
- Mr Grundy told how he saw people climbing into windows
to escape the rising water. "The bed-and-breakfast and tea shop just
filled with water. One minute they were ankle deep and the next they were
up to their chests trying to climb out of windows to escape the wash."
-
- Georgia Gifkans, 14, from Stevenage, described her terror
at being airlifted to safety with her father from the roof of a bed-and-breakfast
in the village.
-
- "All the shop windows were smashing, and my father
and I got on to the roof," she said. "The water was coming up
to the waist of grown men. It was going so fast it was frightening."
-
- Nigel Doyle, landlord of the Darlington Inn in Camelford,
said sandbags were used to protect properties from the swollen river Camel.
"It is the heaviest rain I have ever been out in," he said.
-
- Paul Tyler, the MP for North Cornwall, said he had also
been in his car: "We had water all around us. You could not possibly
move in it."
-
- Stephen Rose, divisional fire officer at Cornwall Fire
Brigade, said 20 fire appliances had been deployed but emergency services
were being hampered by the water.
-
- An Environment Agency spokesman, Mike Dunning, added:
"About 60mm [of rain] fell in the space of two hours this afternoon
which has caused flooding."
-
- * The remnants of Tropical Storm Bonnie forerunner of
Hurricane Charley, which devastated parts of Florida last week are expected
to hit northern Britain tomorrow. Weather warnings were issued by the Meteorological
Office for Scotland.
-
- © 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd
-
- http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/environment/story.jsp?story=552326
|
