291 11% incidents were attributed to Poor decision making ‘ ’
When reports began to come in, on Thursday 1 August 2019, that heavy rain and thunderstorms had badly damaged the wall of Toddbrook Reservoir, it was very quickly declared an emergency, with residents of Whaley Bridge in imminent danger should the dam collapse. Peak District mountain rescuers were at the heart of the rescue operation.
seven days, clocking up several thousand volunteer hours for team members. Those seven days highlighted a couple of things. First, the value of having teams of highly-trained, specially-equipped water rescue personnel on standby. Widespread flooding over recent years, across England and Wales, has shown time and again that our water rescue teams provide a key resource not just in their own communities but beyond, and this was evident in Whaley Bridge too. Second, the support and appreciation offered to team members was palpable, the community spirit alive and well, with individuals and businesses offering food and drink, as well as donations, to those involved. Not for the first time, faced with what could be life-changing consequences for their communities, mountain rescue volunteers had stepped away from their own lives and given their time to help.
Major Incident was declared and the multi-agency operation picked up pace, with RAF Chinook helicopters from RAF Odiham delivering a steady stream of giant sandbags to shore up the dam wall and a large number of powerful pumps to help reduce the water level. Peak District SRTs and Mod 2 Water First Responders were deployed on twelve- hour operational standby downstream. ‘Our task was to assist with evacuation, where possible, and then carry out search and rescue operations in the aftermath of a dam failure’, says Mike. ‘Should that happen, it was calculated that the surge of water would take about 60 minutes to reach New Mills, the next significant habitation downstream. It was a tense few days for everyone involved!’ In the end, disaster was averted. The water level was reduced and engineers were able to examine the extent of the damage. The incident had lasted for
Whaley Bridge is within Kinder MRT’s operational area. The water team was initially put on standby, while one of the team’s Swiftwater Rescue Technicians (SRTs), local to the dam, went to assess the situation. Eventually, all seven Peak District teams were involved, with three of the region’s Duty Controllers managing the incident, two at Whaley Bridge and one off site, with neighbouring teams on standby. ‘Initially, the team was involved with Buxton MRT, setting up a rope system to allow safer access to the walkway over the damaged slipway,’ says Mike Potts, of Kinder MRT. ‘We then worked with the other emergency services and engineers on the initial sand-bagging operations to help divert the flow of water away from the damaged section.’ With continuing torrential rain in the dam’s catchment area hindering efforts to reduce the water level in the dam, a
Dam collapse at Whaley Bridge
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