Stay away: Derbyshire town evacuated after dam wall collapses in heavy rain

Thousands of people are being evacuated from a Derbyshire town amid fears that lives are at risk from flooding.

It follows the collapse of a reservoir wall in Whaley Bridge and concerns this could cause the River Goyt to rise “rapidly”, the Environment Agency said.

Toddbrook Reservoir, which contains 1.3 million tonnes of water, sits above hundreds of homes and businesses in the town. The dam contains 300 million gallons of water, fire chiefs say.

Derbyshire Police said the future of the dam wall “remains in the balance” and an RAF Chinook is being drafted in overnight to help prevent it from collapsing further.

On Thursday evening police said all residents of Whaley Bridge who were at highest risk from flooding have been contacted and asked to leave their homes.

More than 6,000 people live in the town, which is 16 miles southeast of Manchester. There have also been a few evacuations from places downstream such as New Mills and Furness Vale.

Sky News correspondent Tom Parmenter, who is in the town, said at 10pm on Thursday: “In the last half an hour we had police officers running at us screaming and ordering people to retreat to higher ground.”

Resident Carolyn Whittle said that another section of the spillway had collapsed on Thursday night, adding: “I’ve never seen water flood over the dam like that, ever, nor thought that we could possibly be at risk in this way.”

Derbyshire Police said over 400 tonnes of aggregate will be used to divert water from entering the reservoir.

Deputy Chief Constable Rachel Swann said: “To move the substantial amount of aggregate into place – a Chinook helicopter will be operating in the area in the coming hours to allow precise placement and divert the flow of the water.

“With all that said, at this time the future of the dam wall remains in the balance and I would remind people of the very real danger posed to them should the wall collapse.”

Water pumps will continue to remove water from the reservoir to relieve pressure on the dam wall.

Ms Swann said the decision to evacuate homes was “very difficult” and “certainly not one that we make lightly”.

She added: “At this moment we have no time that we can give to residents when they will be able to get back into their homes.

“However, they should rest assured that all the agencies are doing everything humanly possible to bring the incident to a conclusion, however, that timescale is currently unknown.”

A police spokesperson said earlier that anyone who could not stay with friends or family should head to a nearby school for instructions.

They added: “There is a high probability that there will be significant flooding due to damage caused in recent severe weather.

“We understand that there will be some concern around not being able to return home, however, our priority is to ensure people are kept safe and well and are not taking unnecessary risks.

“This is not a decision that has been taken lightly and we appreciate that there is significant impact on this community, however, this is an unprecedented, fast-moving, emergency situation.”

Firefighters from across the country are using at least 10 high volume pumps to divert tonnes of water from the reservoir and relieve pressure on the dam, the National Fire Chiefs Council said.

The pumps can move up to 7,000 litres of water per minute.

The council expects the major incident to last between two and three days.

Former MP Edwina Currie, who lives in a cottage above the reservoir, told Sky News the area had seen two weeks’ rain in 24 hours and that the reservoir had filled up “extremely quickly”.

She said strong winds on Wednesday caused the dam to overflow, which she described as a safety feature and nothing to be concerned about. However, the force of it had carried away some of the dam’s concrete facing.

She said residents were “obviously concerned” but the small community was focused on how they could help each other.

“The community here is excellent…absolutely buzzing with people offering help,” she said. “I’ve no doubt everyone will get well looked after.”

Dragging a suitcase up the town’s deserted high street, Whaley Bridge resident David Holt said of the dam: “If it’s going to go, it’s going to go straight through the village.”

Resident Anna Aspinall said she and others had been called to help place sandbags in the area around the dam but they had been sent away after structural engineers said “the wall is at high risk of failing”.

She added: “We are praying (the dam wall) holds whilst the Canal and River Trust try to drain the water from the reservoir.”

Paul Nash said: “The River Goyt is actually behind us, normally it’s 20ft down from our back garden but last night it raised up to nearly 3ft from coming over.

“If the whole dam goes, it’s going to cause absolute chaos. Probably the village will go, because it goes straight through. The River Goyt goes straight through the village centre.”

The Canal And River Trust said in a statement: “We have a team of engineers on site at the moment assessing the damage and determining what the next steps are.

“We will provide further updates as the picture becomes clearer.”

In other weather-related news:

• Heavy rain caused flooding on all railway lines between Manchester Airport and Wilmslow early on Thursday, according to train operator Northern.
• Flooding has damaged homes and partially destroyed a bridge in Poynton, Cheshire, forcing some to head to a rest centre at the local civic hall. Firefighters responded to 20 incidents, including people stranded by flooding.
• In nearby Wilmslow, police are “dealing with flooding” and had evacuated affected residents, with Oakenclough Children’s Centre open as a rest centre.
• The Environment Agency said its teams were in Cheshire, Derbyshire and Greater Manchester, where intense rainfall had caused flooding and disruption.
• There is currently one severe flood warning (relating to Whaley Bridge) in force, six flood warnings meaning flooding is expected and immediate action is required (two for Poynton Brook, three for the River Bollin and one for Timperley Brook at Altrincham) and 14 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible.
• The Met Office says sporadic rain is expected in north west Scotland and south west England on Friday but it will not be as frequent or as significant as in recent days.

(c) Sky News 2019: Stay away: Derbyshire town evacuated after dam wall collapses in heavy rain