Cumbria flood blackspots ‘need major investment’

CALLS have been made for major investment to fix “overlooked” flooding blackspots as south Cumbria’s infrastructure was battered by Storm Desmond.

Railway lines were blocked by landslides and roads were submerged by water up to 8ft high, causing millions of pounds worth of damage.

Now, as some of the water begins to clear and reveal the devastation left behind, more funding is being demanded to prevent residents being condemned to years of further flooding.

Tim Farron, MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, wants funding cuts to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to be urgently overturned and shelved flood defence schemes in Cumbria to be put back on the agenda.

Speaking to the Evening Mail, he said: “Some flood relief schemes drawn up are on the shelf and that includes the River Kent. These need to be activated in my opinion.

“An awful lot of the concerns people have are over the lack of warning there was.

“If we strip an organisation down to the bones they’re bound to be in a position where they make mistakes.

“This time round they got it wrong, I’m afraid, but I don’t what to blame them. The Environment Agency are under resourced.

“We shouldn’t rush to judgement but there seems to be number of things that could have been done to help homes in Windermere, Ambleside and Coniston and also Kendal from flooding by the building of plausible and not very expensive schemes.

“Rural Britain and rural northern Britain is always overlooked. It’s taken this appalling state of circumstances to get us on the radar.”

Barrow and Furness MP John Woodcock said: “We all know Cumbria is vulnerable to flooding and this latest storm has exposed serious failings in our flood defences.

“We need a proper investigation into exactly what went wrong and then the government must back it up with the investment needed to make sure we never have to see scenes like this in our county again. It is much more expensive to keep repairing infrastructure and clearing up after floods than it would be to just invest more in preventing them.

“We also need to look at how we can make our transport links more resilient and stop people in Furness getting cut off. I will be calling for stronger action from the government and I know my fellow Cumbrian MPs will be doing the same.”

All transport in and out of Furness was cut off at the weekend, with the A590 closed, trains to Carlisle and Lancaster cancelled, and drivers forced to abandon their cars on many routes.

The North West Ambulance Service recorded a 10 per cent increase in calls and reported delays in reaching patients in remote areas.

For many, the frustration of being flooded has turned to anger, with the Environment Agency facing criticism of its handling of the situation.

John Leyland, deputy director of operations at the Environment Agency, has rejected criticism over the failed flood defences in Cumbria.

He said: “We warned hundreds of residents and communities about the impending rain.

“Unfortunately the flood defences were just not going to be able to protect every single property.

“What nobody could have predicted is the amount.”

Rain gauge figures at Honister showed 341mm fell in the 24 hours between Friday night and Saturday night, the highest ever recorded and the equivalent of more than a month’s worth of rain.

The Environment Agency says the severity of the weather took most people by surprise.

South Lakeland District Council tweeted on Friday that South Lakeland was not expected to be seriously affected by the weather, yet ended up being one of the worst hit areas by Storm Desmond.