Some residents evacuated from Whaley Bridge can return to their homes immediately after water levels in a reservoir dropped quickly, police told a community meeting.
Derbyshire Police said earlier those evacuated from the town must wait until experts decide that the Toddbrook Reservoir’s damaged dam is ‘absolutely safe’ and most residents face waiting until after an inspection tomorrow.
More than 1,500 people have been evacuated from the Derbyshire town since Thursday following heavy rain, although a small number refused to leave their properties.
Police said a safe water level at the reservoir had been reached and engineers would be assessing the damage to the wall before making a decision on allowing more people to return.
Deputy Chief Constable Rachel Swann told a public meeting at a school in nearby Chapel-en-le-Frith today that residents of the Horwich End area can return home.
She said: ‘I have got a meeting at 12pm tomorrow where I am expecting we will have good news. We have obviously been pumping the water out and it has gone down at a fast speed. It is now beyond 31 feet.
‘We will keep draining the water until it is safe to stop. What we need to do is just to check the reservoir is fit for when it rains again and we have got a yellow weather warning.’
An RAF Chinook helicopter is pictured dumping sandbags over the most vulnerable part of the dam in Whaley Bridge today as emergency services warn people living in nearby towns and villages that they will be left with as little as ten minutes to evacuate should the barrier burst
Residents from Whaley Bridge queuing at a school in Chapel-en-le-Frith, where they will be hoping to find out when they are likely to be allowed back into their homes at a public meeting
Edwina Currie with fellow residents from Whaley Bridge, who were queuing at a school in Chapel-en-le-Frith before today’s meeting
A map showing the towns and villages close to the Whaley Bridge dam along with the evacuation area that was in place this morning
The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning covering much of England, including the Derbyshire town, on Friday and Saturday.
Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service said earlier ‘work is ongoing’ at the dam and ‘nowhere have we said that the dam is safe’ after people were hopeful of a return to their homes.
In response to a tweet which said ‘the dam is considered safe’, the fire service said: ‘Nowhere have we said that the dam is safe now.
‘Work is ongoing, and road closures and evacuations are still in place to preserve life.
‘We will open roads and let people return home as soon as we can, but we have no way of knowing when this will be.’
At a meeting on tomorrow afternoon, residents are likely to be told there is still work to do to make the dam at Toddbrook Reservoir safe.
Commenting on the current status of the dam, the fire service said: ‘Derbyshire appliances are still working with partner agencies at Toddbrook Reservoir in Whaley Bridge to secure the dam wall.
‘We thank everyone working at the incident and in the surrounding area for their continued support and patience.’
A spokesman for the Environment Agency said the dam will eventually be rebuilt.
Speaking to residents at the meeting in Chapel-en-le-Frith, the spokesman said: ‘We are very much in the emergency phase now and we are currently repairing and carrying out construction work.
‘It is a long-term construction project, but we will not have started from scratch. It could take 18 months, two years, three years, who knows?’
An RAF Chinook was also drafted in today to help the previously dropped bags of aggregate settle into place.
Giving an update on the situation in Whaley Bridge, RAF Regional Liaison Officer for the North West, Wing Commander Gary Lane, said: ‘At the request of the civil engineers, we had a few bits of subsidence where the bags that we put in over Friday and Saturday have settled… so we’ve been asked to fill those in.
‘All it is, is the big slab that we put in, there’s a small concave area that needed a few more bags in, so the engineers asked us to come back in and drop those.
‘We’ve done 39 tonnes this morning and we’re seeing how that goes on.
‘The work we have done is just finding its feet. When you put a load of aggregate down it needs stamping in, we’ve not been able to flatten that because it has just been dropped.’
Workers are attempting to block the waters that they fear will burst through the Toddbrook Reservoir dam in Derbyshire, with nearby towns all falling within reach of any flooding that could occur
The helicopter had been deploying bags of aggregate a mixture of sand, gravel and stone – into the dam to shore it up
An Chinook crew member looks down over Whaley Bridge from the open rear of the aircraft during today’s recovery operation
Animal search teams in Whaley Bridge are pictured loading up their rescue vehicle as people in Derbyshire face the threat of flooding due to the dam’s vulnerability
Mr Lane said around 100 military personnel in total had been drafted in to help with the dam.
The Canal and River Trust also released a statement which said it had passed the target water level of eight metres.
In the statement, the trust said: ‘Pumping continued throughout the night and the reservoir is currently at 25% of its holding capacity with the water level down by 8.4 metres.
‘The water has been pumped out at a controlled rate and good progress is being made.
‘Throughout the morning an RAF Chinook helicopter will continue to drop one tonne bags filled with aggregate to further stabilise the spillway.’
The statement added: ‘Again, our thanks go to anyone affected by the current situation for their co-operation and patience and to the many who are supporting the emergency operation.’
Police have been using drone devices to keep an eye on more that 500 empty homes and businesses and deputy constable Swann said: ‘Officers are doing checks on a regular basis. We are monitoring what is going on.’
Venton, 77 and Ellis, 64, told The Guardian that hey could not leave their two border collies, Meg and Amy after they were asked to leave their property on Saturday.
The pair had been visited by rescue teams and Venton said: ‘They said we could be affected and that they would like us to evacuate from the premises. We said we would prefer to stop here.
‘Meg, our dog, has a bad leg after having an operation and we just couldn’t leave her. We gave them all our details and they told us to listen out for a siren.’
This is while Ellis claimed they were not being ‘forced to leave’ and that workers had been ‘very nice’ about the whole situation.
‘They did offer to put the dog in a car for us, but we don’t have to go. They were very nice about it and they weren’t forcing us, so we made the decision to stay put. We have got the car outside and we know what to do.
She added: ‘They are saying we are putting the services’ lives at risk, but we just would rather stay in our own home. We have got two dogs and we don’t want to put them under stress by taking them to a high school where there will be hundreds of dogs.’
Today the Royal Air Force Chinook was pictured transporting sandbags as work continues to shore up the dam at Toddbrook Reservoir
Workers were once again pictured today working to fix the dam after it was announced that they had reduced the water level by more than 23ft
The vast landscape of the Derbyshire countryside can be seen in the picture above as workers continue to try and secure the dam
There is set to be a meeting in Whaley Bridge this evening where residents are hoping to hear that they will be able to return (pictured above the Royal Air Force Chinook)
Twenty people in 16 homes are said to have remained in their properties. Today the Royal Air Force Chinook was seen in the area again as teams continue to push
Last night residents in Whaley Bridge relived their ‘panic’ after they were told to flee their homes in the wake of the crumbling dam.
Families living within the evacuation zone were forced to scramble for their essentials in the Derbyshire town last week.
Derbyshire’s police and crime commissioner, Hardyal Dhindsa yesterday acknowledged that locals had faced a ‘big disruption’ as attempts to return to normal as quickly as possible continued but stressed the number one priority remained ‘threat to life’, adding that those who refused to leave their homes were ‘taking their lives into their own hands’.
A ‘small number’ of 31 people who were initially evacuated have since returned to their homes in the Derbyshire town, during a brief period when police allowed them to do so to collect vital items, but then failed to come back outside the cordon.
Yesterday workers pumped water away from the ‘unstable’ reservoir after the area narrowly avoided storms that had been predicted to hit the Derbyshire area.
Many struggling families still remained cut off from employment with no news as to when they could return to their jobs, with 1,500 residents having been evacuated since Thursday.
One person who was caught up in the flood was taxi driver Greg Walker, 37, who saw on social media what was happening and has been away from his home ever since.
He said: ‘On Facebook I saw a photograph that the dam had broken, we spoke to each other about what to do then the neighbours came to the back door and said we need to get out.
Some residents had refused to leave Whaley Bridge where workers having been since Thursday to secure the dam. Pictured above Royal Air Force Chinook
‘We looked again on social media and it seemed to have broken more. It was like a panic, we picked up as much as we could, I got three days of clothes and we moved stuff up off the ground then left the house and went to my girlfriend’s sister’s house which is up off the flood zone.’
Another person caught up in the flooding was Natasha Owen, who said her house was in the ‘path of destruction.’
She said: ‘I was at work, I got a message from a group chat with friends who said they were being evacuated. We came back and grabbed a bag and went to my partner’s parents’ house where we have been staying. We packed a bag really quickly and went.
The 26-year-old clinical coder added: ‘There has been no flooding to the house but it is right in the path of destruction.’
Some have since returned to their properties, with senior police officers having warned that there could be ‘catastrophic’ consequences if the dam collapses while people remain within the evacuation zone in the Derbyshire town.
Speaking to up to 100 people packed into Taxal and Fernilee Primary School, Mr Dhindsa said: ‘It’s a big disruption for you all and I understand that, the emergency authorities understand that and we want to get back to normality as quickly as possible but please bear with us because the number one priority is life and threat to life.
‘We don’t want anyone to be devastated. We want to make sure we protect the properties of everybody. That is going to be difficult when there is an evacuation.
‘There is a minority number of people not wanting to leave their properties and they are taking their lives into their own hands. Police officers are going out to encourage them to come away until it is totally safe.’
Other residents yesterday took to social media to praise the efforts of the emergency services and the local residents of Whaley Bridge who had gone above and beyond to help others. Former Tory MP Edwina Currie, who lives near the village, even urged people to come and visit the area once the incident had been rectified.
Labour MP for the High Peak, Ruth George was on the scene yesterday and reassured those around her that the situation would not continue for much longer.
She said: ‘We were given an outside time of seven days and to be able to do that in return for the incredible effort our emergency services have put in to saving lives here in Whaley Bridge doesn’t seem like a huge amount to ask people.
‘I really wish for the last couple of days we have to be out they help people by staying out.’
She also highlighted that more help needed to be put in place for those who had been forced out of work for the last few days.
‘I know every day’s wage is important – people who are prevented from working for a whole week, not being able to get that money coming in when you’re running a household is a real problem.
‘At the moment it doesn’t seem like there’s any structure in there to help people who are cut off from their employment. Situations like that show just how important emergency paid leave is, and we need some funding in place to help people in Whaley Bridge in that situation.
‘1,500 people have been evacuated, they are having extra raised costs of having to live away from home, buy food for themselves. But the biggest cost is going to be businesses – some of them have been cut off from their premises, from their computers, they are struggling at the moment.’
As prominent politicians took to the streets, many took to social media to praise their local heroes. One woman thanks a local pharmacist who had been out and about helping.
‘Special shout out to Raj the local pharmacist from #WhaleyBridge chemists- he has just personally delivered my frail & elderly parents’ weekly medications to their door with a police escort on a Sunday afternoon! Raj if you read this THANKYOU!’
Whaley Bridge resident Edwina Currie urged people to come and visit the area once the incident was over, said: ‘When this emergency is passed, come and spend time with us, with your families dogs grannies whatever. You will be made very welcome.’
She also stated that there wasn’t actually a panic and that most people ‘lived outside the evacuation zone’.
Derbyshire Police said that over the past days the dam wall has been packed with 530 tonnes of aggregate which is now being cemented into place to reinforce the structural integrity of the spillway.
Ms George also highlighted the need for an enquiry in order to establish why the reservoir dam failed the way it did.
‘Only that enquiry will tell us whether there should have been more structural funding put in, whether we should have had more rigorous inspections and whether the whole dam needed a rethink and a rebuild before this happened.
‘Until we get that enquiry we can’t get those answers, but I’m going to make sure we do because I think everybody here in Whaley Bridge and on a national scale where we have other similar dams will want to make sure we can learn those lessons.
Where Whaley Bridge is in relation to the reservoir and the dam wall which has a hole in it, and the flow of the water
‘Until we get that enquiry we don’t know if it was maintenance, a structural issue or severe weather which caused it, it’s really hard to say.
‘What we do know is we’re going to see more and more of these severe weather incidents, so we have to make sure our national infrastructure is resilient enough to be able to cope with it. I don’t think the Canal and River Trust as a charitable trust on its own has the resources to be able to do that without significant input from the Government, and that’s part of what we need to do to prepare for climate change.’
On Sunday soldiers, police and engineers continued their desperate efforts to stop the dam wall giving way, including utilising an RAF Chinook helicopter to drop bags of aggregate on the damaged section of spillway.
In a forceful condemnation of the culprits who returned home, Deputy Chief Constable of Derbyshire Constabulary Rachel Swann, said: ‘These people are putting the lives of officers at risk as further checks have to now be completed to ensure those residents are out of the area safely.
How was Toddbrook Reservoir dam built?: Cross section reveals how structure’s clay and concrete hold back 300m tones of water
The large earth dam has a clay core which is made of the same substance used in canals – with it supposed to stop water from flowing through it.
Surrounding the core there is compact soil, which holds the dam together and increased the dams strength over time as it is further condensed.
On the other side of the dam to the water, there are concrete spillways to channel away excess water as the reservoir overflows.
It works in a similar way to a overflow drain in a bath.
A graphic shows the structure of the Toddbrook dam in Whaley Bridge
The reservoir reached bursting point on Thursday after heavy rainfall caused its water levels to rise and tip over the emergency spillway.
This chipped away at the structure and partly eroded it.
Yet Chairman of the British Dam Society Alan Warren has said the reason for this remains unclear.
He told the BBC: ‘We don’t know whether the concrete was inadequate or whether there was some problem underneath those concrete slabs which means the slabs fell into a void that had been forming underneath.
‘Maybe the joints in the slabs weren’t properly sealed, and water was getting in through the joints.’
Other experts have speculated from pictures of the dam that the over-spilling water had eroded the soil under the concrete, but the clay below it had not been compromised.
‘The officers carrying out these checks are mothers, fathers, partners and friends. I want my officers to be able to return to their families at the end of their shifts – not be put in harm’s way.’
This is while Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn yesterday praised ‘incredible spirit’ of the Whaley Bridge community, volunteers, emergency services and public authorities as he saw the ongoing repair work on the damaged dam.
He said: ‘Incredible response by the community, the volunteers and I think really in co-ordination between the Environment Agency, the Canals and Rivers Trust, the county council, local authorities, police, RAF, everybody… really efficient. What you see is this incredible spirit around working so well together.
‘I went out to talk to the construction workers who are repairing the dam. Well you have to just admire the skill of dropping a lot of aggregate in pinpoint accuracy and then backfilling with concrete and further aggregate which they are doing now.
‘Impressive but obviously the water levels have got to go down. That’s happening and hopefully people will be able to return to their homes but of course there has to be then the question of long-term repair to the dam and the safety of it in the future.’
Asked if he thought an inquiry should take place, he replied: ‘Yes there has to be an inquiry. An inquiry to make sure all the co-ordination worked effectively and everything I have seen shows it did but there are always lessons to be learned.
‘I have just spent some time at a residents’ meeting and they had wholly legitimate questions about how to get to work, how to get home, family, pets, medical supplies and things like that but also the loss of earnings from people who can’t get out to work, those that are self-employed and the way in what is known as the Bellwin formula – which supports public authorities in the event of an emergency like this – actually impacts on communities as well.’
Workers from construction firm Kier were praised for working through the night at the weekend to build a road around the reservoir so the massive pumps could be moved from one side to the other.
Julie Sharman, chief operating officer for the reservoir’s owners, the Canal and River Trust, said the reservoir could not be drained as it would require a ‘full fish rescue’, but she said she was ‘100% confident of public safety’ once the 8m level reduction had been achieved.
The officer said they were at the point of maximum efficiency for pumping, meaning that going any faster could present other structural problems with the dam wall.
Mr McDermott said the sluice channel around the reservoir was ‘coping well’ with both the water being pumped out by 22 pumps and the inflow to the lake which has been blocked off by Chinook drops.
Deputy Chief Fire Officer Gavin Tomlinson of Derbyshire Fire and Rescue said crews were working to get ‘ahead of the curve and remove as much water as possible’ in order to ‘minimise the impact of any bad weather that does materialise’.
Residents moved on Thursday told how they grabbed medication and beloved pets when they were allowed to briefly return home on Saturday, having been warned by police they did so at their own risk.
James Thomas Burton, 79, was diagnosed with bladder cancer six years ago.
He has been fitted with a colostomy bag that needs to be changed twice a week – on a Monday and a Thursday – to reduce the risk of infection.
He had been to Goyt Valley Medical Practice in Whaley Bridge on Thursday just before the village was evacuated.
He said: ‘When they diagnosed me with cancer they found four tumours on my bladder and a big tumour on my kidney. So they took my kidney out and fitted me with a colostomy bag.
‘I have to get it changed twice a week in case it get infected. I had it changed on the Thursday and I got home just as they had called the evacuation. The doctors phoned me up on Friday and asked if I could go to Chapel-en-le-Frith to get it changed.’
Mr Burton would face a three hour round trip for the ten minute procedure.
He added: ‘I’m what you call in a hole and I can’t get out. I am concerned. If worst comes to the worst I’ll have to ring an ambulance.’
Val Fallon, 74, has been staying with her daughter in nearby Macclesfield and returned to her house to collect clothes and shoes.
She has lived in the village for 22 years and owns an antique shop next to her house and left without any clothes in a rush and her beloved Jack Russell had not eaten anything since the move.
Ms Fallon said: ‘I would lose my shop and my house if it bursts. I’d lose everything. There is no point moving anything from the shop, I haven’t got enough time.
‘They get you so panicked, you can’t think of all the things you’d need to take. I just dropped everything and fled when they evacuated the village. It was such a rush.
‘I am living out of my daughter’s rag bag, I didn’t have any clothes with me when I evacuated. I thought it was only going to be an overnight thing, but it is on its third day already and they have no idea how long we might have to stay away for.
‘It’s my dog I feel sorry for. He hasn’t eaten anything, he’s not a happy chap. He’s so out of kilter with all the upheaval and stress.’
Priscilla Warrington, 51, owns the Post Office in the Horwich End part of the town. The shop in Buxton Road was evacuated on Thursday when she was told by the police to flee.
She said: ‘It was a case of making sure everything was secure before we left. It’s very much a community shop. It’s the community hub for many residents.
‘I’m worried for the elderly people. For many of them it’s their point of contact. We have things like people’s travelling money that is in the safe.’
Mrs Warrington was allowed back on Saturday for 15 minutes to collect the post. She also retrieved food in the shop and donated cakes to emergency service workers in the town.
Mrs Warrington said she is concerned about what the future holds for her business, adding: ‘We pulled out all the post and the parcels and we got it collected.
‘But we get a lot of medicines in for people and we do all the banking for the local businesses. We don’t take a salary, while the shop is shut, we aren’t earning any money.
‘We have to sort out paying staff and what we are going to do regarding insurance. It’s going to be a nightmare. I am worried for the regular customers.
‘We have a lot of elderly people’s house nearby and they use us a lot of the time.’
Joan Pass, 78, was in tears after she went back for the first time since the mass evacuation of the town, describing it as ‘terrible’. She said she thought there had been an explosion when first told to evacuate.
Mrs Pass said: ‘The bells were ringing – I didn’t know what the bells were ringing for. My daughter said get out, get your passport and your medication. I thought it was a bomb.’
Ben Pudsey and Andrew McNair, from Animal Search UK, said they had rescued a cockatiel called Joey from one of the evacuated houses, where he had escaped from his cage and was flying around the living room.
Tracey Coleman said she, her 18-year-old daughter Anna and the rest of the family left on Thursday with their two dogs, a cat, a tortoise and the neighbour’s dog and went to her mother’s house nearby.
Val Fallon, 74, has been staying with her daughter in nearby Macclesfield and returned to her house to collect clothes and shoes.
She has lived in the village for 22 years and owns an antique shop next to her house. She moved without any clothes in a rush and her beloved Jack Russell had not eaten anything since the move.
Ms Fallon said: ‘I would lose my shop and my house if it bursts. I’d lose everything. There is no point moving anything from the shop, I haven’t got enough time.
‘They get you so panicked, you can’t think of all the things you’d need to take. I just dropped everything and fled when they evacuated the village. It was such a rush.
‘I am living out of my daughter’s rag bag, I didn’t have any clothes with me when I evacuated. I thought it was only going to be an overnight thing, but it is on its third day already and they have no idea how long we might have to stay away for.
‘It’s my dog I feel sorry for. He hasn’t eaten anything, he’s not a happy chap. He’s so out of kilter with all the upheaval and stress.’
James Barrington has gone to stay with his parents in nearby Wilmslow, Cheshire, after being evacuated. He had returned to his house in Whaley Bridge to get the last of his possessions.
Residents were bringing cups of tea and sandwiches to officers, some of whom were working 20 hour shifts. One officer said: ‘People’s support has been fantastic. I’ve had homemade sausage sandwiches and cakes brought out to me.
‘People have been brilliant. It really shows the community spirit in this area. Total strangers have offered their spare beds to people who have been evacuated.’
Does this picture of a ‘neglected’ dam prove it was a disaster waiting to happen? Footage shows weeds and a tree growing between the concrete panels of Whaley Bridge three years ago
Footage showing plants growing between the concrete panels of the Toddbrook Reservoir dam spillway three years ago have raised questions over its maintenance since then.
The spillway is designed to deal with any water which comes over the top of the dam and channel it safely away.
One engineering expert voiced concern over possible harm to the structure.
Dr Mohammad Heidarzadeh, an assistant professor at Brunel University, said the vegetation on the 2016 video taken from a drone indicated likely gaps between the panels where water could have swept in, making the damage worse.
‘That could be the whole problem right there,’ he said.
Picture shows plants growing between the concrete panels of the Toddbrook Reservoir dam spillway three years ago
‘The spillway needs to be kept sealed and clear of these kind of weeds and plants.’
However another expert, Professor Tim Broyd, former president of the Institution of Civil Engineers, doubted whether the spillway’s failure matched the area where the weeds were most prevalent.
Asked whether the images suggested good maintenance, he said: ‘I’m not sure why you’d want a small tree on the spillway.’
A spokesperson for the Canal and River Trust (CRT), which maintains the dam, said the reservoir was inspected and maintained by independent engineers.
‘This includes regular detailed ten yearly inspections carried out by an independent panel engineer and CRT supervising engineer.
‘The last one was undertaken in November 2018 and signed off by the independent panel engineer and CRT supervising engineer in April.
‘Understanding historical inspections and maintenance is clearly important and will be part of our ongoing response to this event.’
A Whaley Bridge resident said it’s ‘no surprise’ part of the Toddbrook Reservoir dam collapsed – as a series of images showing the structure in disrepair emerged.
The pictures were taken in the weeks and months before last week’s devastating floods.
Hundreds of plants can be seen growing from the earth and creeping through the concrete spillway, which partially collapsed on Thursday.
The man said the vegetation must have caused structural damage to the dam, contributing to its downfall.
He said: ‘The signs have been there for years. The slats that have collapsed have had plants growing between them for a long time. Now they have collapsed and it’s no great surprise.’
He added: ‘It seems like the dam has just been left to its own devices. You wouldn’t let your gutters get into that state let alone a dam.’