Flood rescue effort ‘the biggest in peacetime Britain’

THE rescue effort to help thousands of people caught up in the devastating floods was yesterday described as the biggest in peacetime Britain — as affected areas braced themselves for more heavy rain.

The Government has been accused of underestimating the scale of the flood rescue effort after new figures showed as many as 3,500 people have been rescued by the fire service in the past few days.

Many homes remain flooded and without power with Bentley near Doncaster still badly affected.

Five people have already died in the flooding, which has forced hundreds of people in Yorkshire and the Midlands from their homes.

The latest was in Lincolnshire where rescue teams searching for a man who went missing in a flooded canal recovered the body of a man in his 60s. The Fire Brigades’ Union said fire crews were working “to the point of collapse”.

General secretary Matt Wrack said: “The Government has not understood the scale, gravity and severity of what has happened. We have witnessed the biggest rescue effort in peacetime Britain by our emergency services and it’s not over yet. Fire crews and officers have been working to the point of collapse.

“There has been a massive and outstanding national effort involving fire and rescue services from across the country.’’

Britain is bracing itself for more heavy rain over the next few days.

The Met Office issued an early warning of severe weather, with further rain and showers forecast to sweep across parts of Britain over the weekend.