Residents, emergency service workers, council staff and volunteers are being thanked for their ongoing hard work to get communities back on their feet, as the flooding clear up continues.
Latest figures show that around 800 homes and businesses were flooded after torrential rain and thawing snow hit Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland last Monday night (6 January).
Fire crews, police officers, district council officers, highways teams, flood wardens, crews from the Environment Agency and Canal and Rivers Trust, as well as volunteers from the Salvation Army and British Red Cross, have worked day and night to evacuate residents, run emergency shelters, knock on doors to offer vital support and much more.
“The personal and financial impact of flooding is devastating. My thoughts are with everyone affected.
“For some people, this is the second flood within a year and they are angry and scared. We’ve seen families leaving their properties with only the soaked clothes on their back.
“As a partnership, we’re continuing to support local residents, but more needs to be done to tackle this national issue. Last week, the leaders of the councils in Leicestershire and Rutland signed a letter to ministers asking for more money to help people.
“For now, we want to send a message of support to those affected and thank all those volunteers and front-line staff for their round-the-clock efforts.
“An emergency like this needs everyone to come together, and in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland we have seen just that. Residents have been understanding and supportive in some extremely tough and harrowing circumstances. This helped our crews do their jobs to keep people safe.”
Person:Chief fire officer, Callum Faint, who led the immediate emergency response
Water levels in rivers and canals reached dangerous levels after over a month’s rainfall fell in just in a few days.
For the first time, a Government emergency text alert was used in Barrow upon Soar, where Proctor’s Park was evacuated by fire crews to keep people safe.
“Not only have we seen people working through the night, we’ve also seen how communities have stepped up and opened their doors to those who’ve needed help, shelter and warm food or drink.
“Colleagues across the city, districts and Rutland are now working hard on the clean up efforts.
“Thank you to everyone involved so far. We know that for many the recovery has only just begun.”
Person:Zafar Saleem, Leicestershire County Council's assistant chief executive, who is leading the recovery effort
During the flooding:
- 800 properties were flooded
- Rest centres were open in Leicester, Charnwood and Blaby
- More than 380 calls to the fire service
- 60 people were rescued from properties and 27 from cars by boat
- Leicestershire Police handled over 2,100 calls on 6 January - a 40-to-50 per cent rise on average daily demand
- East Midlands Ambulance Service declared a critical incident because of the demand in the region
- The Environment Agency issued a highly unusual severe flood warning, indicating ‘risk to life’
- Over 160 roads flooded
- 118 flood wardens available to help
Residents are urged to report flooding in Leicestershire or report flooding in Leicester City and can sign up for flood alerts at gov.uk.