Eerie pictures of the near-deserted town of Whaley Bridge have been posted to social media after residents were forced to evacuate the town over fears the collapse of a nearby dam could flood the area.Hanna Sillitoe filmed the village, evacuated due to a nearby dam at risk of bursting, while out running early on Friday morning – sharing a video to
Twitter which shows its unnerving stillness. The centre of #WhaleyBridge which would normally be buzzing with shoppers, workers, people grabbing a coffee at the cafe ... eerily silent this morningLimited supervised access is being granted to people coming back for beloved pets.Thoughts are with the emergency crews 🙏🏼♥️ pic.twitter.com/f1z4GYxpKU— Hanna Sillitoe (@HannaSillitoe) August 2, 2019BBC journalist Judith Moritz was also in the town on Friday and posted a picture next to the
police cordon, saying: “This is as far as you can go on foot.
“Everything beyond this cordon is classed as the ‘red zone’.”This is the deserted town centre of Whaley Bridge. This is as far as you can go on foot. Everything beyond this cordon is classed as the ‘red zone’ #flooding#WhaleyBridge#bbcnewspic.twitter.com/ca66NNG12B— Judith Moritz (@JudithMoritz) August 2, 2019Another picture, posted on
Instagram, gave another view of the deserted streets. View this post on InstagramA post shared by jonnyj11 (@jonnyj11) on Aug 2, 2019 at 1:35am PDTDespite expecting cordons, Moritz said there were none and she did not have to turn back, continuing on to Whaley Bridge.
Sillitoe said she and other residents of her hamlet, one kilometre away but downstream from the village, were given “conflicting advice”, with police advising evacuation but government flood warning information suggesting they were safe.
“We have livestock and horses here,” she said. “Our personal decision at present is to stay.
“If the dam goes, my cottage is in the firing line down river – we already had bad floods on Wednesday but the water has since subsided.
“What will be will be.”
Meanwhile, the RAF Chinook aircraft currently being used to shore up the stricken dam provided some surreal footage from the normally sleepy town. View this post on InstagramA post shared by Nimbus Antiques (@nimbusantiques) on Aug 2, 2019 at 2:01am PDTThe dam, feared to be on the verge of collapse, is facing a “critical” moment as the military and emergency services work to stop it bursting.
Water flowing into Toddbrook Reservoir was “reduced considerably” overnight but engineers remain “very concerned” about the integrity of the damaged 180-year-old structure, which contains around 1.3 million tonnes of water.
Hundreds of people have been evacuated from the Derbyshire town of Whaley Bridge over fears it could rupture and flood their homes.Related... RAF Chinook Drafted In To Whaley Bridge Amid Dam Collapse Fears 'Massive Flooding' Warning As Firefighters Desperately Try Limit Damage To Derbyshire Dam