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RAF Search and Rescue helicopters help Cumbrian flood relief effort

Words: Adrian Rondel, © RAF News. Images: Jonathon Becker and Phil Rigby, © Cumberland News and Star.

Amid gale force winds and rising water levels, an RAF Sea King crew battled to rescue people from their homes after Carlisle was hit by serious floods. Meanwhile in Keswick, an RAF mountain rescue team from Leeming helped recover people from houses that had also been cut off by flooding.

Carlisle was cut off from the rest of the country on January 8 when the River Eden burst its banks, creating six-foot high floods in places. A Sea King crew from Boulmer and a Royal Navy Sea King were asked to assist in what became a major recovery operation. The A Flight, 202 Squadron crew was Squadron Leader lain MacFarlane (Officer Commanding A Flight), Flight Lieutenant Lindsey Smith, Master Aircrew Ron Webb and Master Aircrew Mark Stevens. Wing Commander Warren 'Bunny' James (Officer Commanding 202 Squadron) and Corporal Richie Dunn also deployed to Carlisle to help co-ordinate the operation from the ground.

Wing Commander James said: "The crew's main priority was to search the houses and ground along with the Navy helicopter, looking for anyone in distress or who needed moving. People were literally looking out of first floor windows up at the Sea Kings. If they got a thumbs up from people that they were OK, they'd move on to the next house or street. I think it was the scale of the flooding that surprised everyone. Around 70,000 houses lost power and 3,000 of them required evacuation."

As floods threatened further parts of Carlisle, Wing Commander James redeployed to Penrith. He added: "I have to say to emergency services did an excellent job in setting up reception centres for those people who had to leave their homes. Maintaining communications was a real problem for everyone. So many areas had lost power that the reserve battery powers of communication towers were running low and that had a profound effect."

The Boulmer crew was involved in a couple of interesting jobs, including a few people who had been stuck on a lorry for nearly five hours before we found and rescued them. "We also recovered a three-year-old to a waiting boat and then airlifted another toddler to hospital who was suffering a severe asthma attack. In situations like these, we were just glad we were able to help out."

At nearby Keswick, eight personnel from Leeming mountain rescue team were involved in a night operation to evacuate people from their flooded homes. Working with the emergency services, the team provided assistance to a difficult evacuation, in one case having to use a stretcher help out a disabled man. In some parts of the town, the strength of the current of the water flow made it impassable by foot and the team had to use their 4x4 vehicles to navigate the streets.

Team leader Sgt Darren 'Sumo' Summerson said "During a routine training weekend at Portinscale, the team was tasked to assist local agencies in evacuating the elderly and infirm from their homes. Using our Land-Rovers, we managed to evacuate 20 people from Keswick taking them to a local refuge shelter. The team worked hard into the early hours of Saturday morning before being stood down at 4:30am."

Date Last Updated : Tuesday, January 18, 2020 2:29 PM

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