By Matthew Legg

Last updated at 10:18, Saturday, 21 November 2009

Scores of Workington residents spent the night in hotels last night after parts of the town were evacuated following a day of flood chaos.

People living in low-lying areas close to the raging River Derwent were told to leave their homes at lunchtime.

Workington town centre was closed by police at 4pm and shop workers sent home. Shops were expected to open again as normal this morning, unless there is any further serious flooding overnight.

Residents of Hall Park View suffered severe flooding after the Derwent burst its banks and inundated the area yesterday morning.

They were evacuated at lunchtime as water began to flood their homes.

People living in flats in the old Workington Brewery, on Ladies Walk, were also told to leave after the ground floor was flooded, knocking out gas and electric supplies.

They were told they must stay away for “at least a week” and were sent to hotels including the nearby Washington Central and Hunday Manor, at Winscales. People living on Northside Road, on the opposite side of the Derwent, were also evacuated.

Residents of Barepot spent their second night away from home after being evacuated on Thursday.

Workington police’s Hall Park headquarters has suffered extensive flooding.

Workington Cricket Club’s Ernest Valentine ground was under about a foot of water yesterday afternoon, as was Mill Field, site of the proposed Tesco Extra superstore.

Work was continuing last night to make the area around the washed away Northside bridge safe.

Navvies bridge, which carries a footpath and cycle path from Workington to Northside over the Derwent, was also destroyed.

And fears were rising last night for a bridge carrying the Workington to Carlisle railway, which also spans the river.

The Calva Brow bridge, which connects Workington to Seaton, was also destroyed and a wall connecting Workington dock bridge to an island in the river has also collapsed.

A bridge carrying a disused railway line over the Derwent was close to collapse after two concrete struts washed away and the old railway line buckled.

Julie Enberg surveyed the scene from the water’s edge in Workington, 200 yards from her home, with the water lapping the letterbox.

She said: “I got home around 1.30pm yesterday and the water was at pavement height on road outside the house but cars were still going through.

“There’s a beck around the back and the water sometimes rises there but it’s never flooded before.

“It got to about 3.30 and the police started closing the road, then around 4pm I went to move my car and, as I came back, the water was coming into the patio.”

Mrs Enberg, 42, said she had phoned the council for sandbags two hours earlier but was told there was a backlog and none arrived.

Around 6pm her husband Jonas decided they would have to get out.

Mr Enberg, 35, said: “We just took the decision ourselves to get out and we did it just in time. Some of our neighbours had to be rescued by the fire brigade.”

However, Mr Enberg had to go back to get the family’s pet cat, Harley.

He added: “I was wading waist-deep in the water to get the cat. I got a bag and the cat and the cage and when I went to open the back door everything came in – sandbags, the lot. It was scary, believe me. The torrents are very strong and I was just hoping I didn’t get swept away. I have lost everything but we are safe and sound. It is just gutting really but we lost a policeman and I bet his family are having a far harder time. It’s just material things, it can be put right.”

Mrs Enberg added: “We have just got what we stand up in now. When I get back in the house then the devastation will hit me.”

Engineers were trying to reconnect power supplies to 323 homes in Stainburn after an electricity sub-station was flooded.

Workington’s Opera Bingo hall and the town’s Plaza Cenema were closed last night.

Harrington harbour will remain open during the rough weather as a refuge area for boat owners. Notices along the promenade have been put up warning people to be aware of the dangers of high waves and water on the road surfaces.

A spokesman for Allerdale Council said: “We cannot close the harbour because it is used by boat owners to seek refuge in the rough weather. We are advising people to take extra care when they are in and around the harbour.”

The council is asking staff to volunteer to work over the weekend by calling 01900 702911.

First published at 08:58, Saturday, 21 November 2009
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk