HOMES were evacuated and dozens of people have been rescued from rising flood waters in East Lancashire.

Whalley has once again been worst hit by the extreme weather with King Street resembling a river, forcing water up through the floorboards of properties, after the River Calder burst its banks.

Lancashire Telegraph:

The army was called in and people were helped out of their homes in rescue boats yesterday morning, some wearing shorts, wellington boots and carrying just a small rucksack of belongings.

Elsewhere, flooding hit numerous parts of East Lancashire after hours of relentless rain.

The Environment Agency reported rivers in Lancashire were at their highest recorded levels.

One woman, Alice Foley, who lives in Queen Street, Whalley, said members of the army were knocking on doors at 3am, warning people of the impending floods.

The fire brigade rescued more than 30 people from Whalley, while the police said the total number across East Lancashire was 'too numerous to mention'.

 


Yesterday afternoon, Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service said it was responding to ‘life threatening incidents only’.

Lancashire Police set up a Gold Command Centre to bring all agencies together and coordinate rescue and emergency action.

Whalley parish councillor June Brown said: "I've never ever seen it as bad as this. It's heart breaking. I don't know how people will recover because it's never happened before."

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And Whalley Parish Council chairman Martin Highton was one of the last people evacuated, after seeing the water reach thigh height in his home.

Joan Shackleton, 74, who lives on King Street in Whalley with husband Hugh, 75, was trying to keep the flood waters out of her home using makeshift defences this morning.

She said: "I've lived in Whalley all my life and I've never seen it this bad before.

"I only bought my sofa last week so I hope it doesn't get ruined."

 

An evacuation centre has been set up at Longridge Civic Hall in Calder Avenue for people evacuated from Whalley and Ribchester.

The road through Ribchester is completely submerged after the flood defences were breached. The Ribchester Arms, which was due to entertain scores of people for Boxing Day meals, was cut off by the water which was said to be waist-deep in places.

A lack of sandbags has been noted in some areas, with residents forced to make their own using gravel off their own driveways.

Efforts to rescue livestock were also taking place.

A severe flood warning - meaning that there is a danger to life - was issued for Lancashire by the Environment Agency until 9pm on Boxing Day but the water is expected to hit a peak at 11am.

 


The red warnings are for two locations on the River Ribble at Ribchester and three locations on the River Calder at Whalley. There is also said to be danger to life from flooding in Padiham where the Calder burst its banks.

Other flood warnings are for Blackburn, Samlesbury, Burnley, Padiham, Barrowford, Crawshawbooth, Rawtenstall, Bacup and Waterfoot.

 

The River Ribble overflowed in Sawley, causing the road to be closed.

Elsewhere, the pitch of Accrington Stanley’s Wham Stadium is under water meaning their game against Carlisle United was postponed.

Blackburn Rovers' clash with Middlesbrough at Ewood Park was also called off.

 


A Met Office spokesman said: "The heaviest rain is expected to occur this morning, before easing for a time this afternoon. A further spell of heavy rain is then likely this evening before a clearance takes place from the northwest.

 


"Very severe weather conditions are expected. Take action to remain safe and protect property. Widespread flooding will lead to severe disruption to travel and danger to life."

 


The average rainfall for the whole of December in the North West is 5.7ins (145mm) - so not far off a month's rain could lash the region in hours.

The Government's emergency Cobra committee met on Christmas Day while a company from the 2nd Battalion, Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, helped committees across the North West build miles of temporary flood defences.

The EA said 85% of the country's temporary flood barriers had been sent to Cumbria, where rainfall has smashed records, and the Lakeland region braced itself again ahead of the deluge.

Pendle Water is also reported to have burst its banks.

 


@julie_miles tweeted shortly after 9.30am: "Please stay safe everyone. There are flood warnings in our village in Barrowford. Pendle Water has burst its banks. Please be careful out there."

Cllr Joe Cooney tweeted: "Sandbags are available if you have any flooding near your property, just call 01282 661999 for more info."

The road into Lomeshaye village is cut off, submerged in about 3ft of water.

The flood siren sounded in Todmorden this morning as water levels rose and roads became blocked.

Floods Minister Rory Stewart said that rainfall levels in the flood-hit areas were unprecedented.

 


"We're looking potentially again today at maybe a month's rainfall coming in a day. That's falling on ground that's very saturated. As the rain falls, the rivers respond very quickly," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

"Certainly what we've seen is rainfall levels that nobody's ever seen before.

"If somebody had said two years ago when we were designing these flood defences that we could get 13 inches of rain in a day, the answer from the engineers would have been 'Why are you making that kind of prediction? We have never seen this before.'

 


"I think this is why people are right to start focusing on uncertainty and why people obviously are very interested in the question of climate change."

Todmorden has also been hit and the waters are continuing to rise as the rain keeps falling.

Resident Lee Fraser, who lives on Halifax Road, said the road between the town and the neighbouring village of Hebden was submerged.

"It's getting worse and worse, it's been raining really heavily since last night," he added.

"The siren went off at about 7am this morning and 10 minutes later everything started flooding.

"A lot of people are moving their stuff upstairs in their houses and the police came and closed the roads.

"It's absolutely tipping it down, so it's only going to get worse by the look of it."

Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service warned people to stay away from the Whalley and Ribchester areas.

"A severe flood warning means danger to life. It doesn't mean 'come and have a look'. Please don't come to visit Whalley or Ribchester now," the service said in a tweet.

The severe flood warnings - the EA's highest level of warning - are for two locations on the River Ribble at Ribchester, three locations on the River Calder at Whalley and two on the River Wyre at St Michaels.

Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service has warned motorists in the county not to drive unless they have to.

"The rain is awful across the whole county. Don't drive unless you need to," a spokesman posted on Twitter.

>> Keep checking back for regular updates today

>> Have you got pictures of the flooding? Email picturedesk@nqnw.co.uk

>> Have you been affected by the flooding? Ring the Lancashire Telegraph newsdesk on 07500 125080.