A view of the children’s playground immersed in floodwaters, which surrounds Tewkesbury Abbey, where there are flood clocks with more wet weather expected in the coming days, in Tewkesbury, England, on Wednesday 23 December 2020. (Ben Birchall / PA via AP)
In Writing
UPDATED 11:10 AM PT – Sunday, December 27, 2020
Hundreds of Bedfordshire residents evacuated their homes after massive flooding caused by “Storm Bella”.
According to reports this weekend, river levels are “extremely high”, with warnings of flooding in the region along the “Great River Ouse”, which is about 65 miles north of London.
Residents woke up to find parks, roads and, in some cases, their homes, submerged by heavy rainfall from the “Beautiful Storm”. The flood was five meters deep at some points.
Rather today @ llitsFire they were out of support to residents in Harrold to evacuate from their homes due to the floods. Check out the latest information on Bedfordshire floods; https://t.co/D4abd1tHlo pic.twitter.com/dOV9cZRn0g
– Fire Bed and Rescue (@BedsFire) December 25, 2020
“I don’t think I’ve seen it for over 20 years, I would say,” one local resident said. “It’s incredibly fast too, so I wouldn’t want to fall into it. I don’t think so.”
Teams of firefighters on boats spent Christmas Day rescuing residents. They rescued dozens of people from their homes, businesses and trapped cars. Emergency accommodation was obtained for approximately 500 people, some of whom even showed signs of hypothermia.
“It hasn’t been exactly the best year,” another resident said. “And it’s something other than adding to 2020 things that aren’t good.”
The UK Environment Agency has warned that ‘floods are imminent’ as ‘Storm Bella’ is expected to continue to impact the UK over the weekend.
Meanwhile, the region is also subject to “Tier Four” coronavirus restrictions, which prohibit households from mixing with each other. However, authorities said flood warnings overturned current coronavirus restrictions. Officials also noted that people can go to other homes to stay safe.
Residents are advised to turn off water, gas and electricity before evacuating them to avoid additional problems.