York floods, day 3: David Cameron visits city, phones & broadband down, waters peak, more rain forecast

David Cameron visited flood hit York on Monday (December 28) as the waters claimed large parts of the city’s infrastructure.

The Prime Minister was given a briefing as to how the city was coping at Silver Command, the flooding HQ at Fulford Road police station.

Hundreds of homes have been evacuated as the waters from the Foss and Ouse inundated properties in the worst floods in recent times. The waters peaked on Monday morning.

Cash machines went down and many shops were only able to take cash transactions.

Many phone lines are down and broadband is out for large parts of the city. The BT exchange on Stonebow was flooded.

The emergency services have been affected. A police spokeswoman said:

And City of York Council has a temporary phone number and email: 07500 100398 and [email protected].

BT said their engineers were working as quickly as they could to restore power to the building and get services up and running again.

A spokesman said:

Rain returning

The waters in York have peaked and are now receding.

But more rain is on its way on Tuesday, with the Met Office issuing a yellow alert for rain on Wednesday:

At the Foss Barrier work was underway to replace the broken pump which caused the flood protection failure.

An Army Chinook helicopter was dropping in the new parts to a team of engineers who were working in flooded rooms.

‘We’ve spent a lot on defences’

During his York visit David Cameron met military personnel to thank them for helping in the flood efforts. He also met and thanked City of York Council staff and volunteers filling sandbags at Hazel Court Recycling Centre.

While in the city he defended his government’s record on flood defences. He told Sky that the budget was rising and now stands at £2.3bn.

“We’ve spent a lot of flood defences and we’re going to spend a lot more,” he said.

After a lot of criticism that London and the south was better protected than the north, he said £100m is being spent in Yorkshire and another £280m will be spent.

The PM added: “Let’s have a look and see what more needs to be done.”

More than 600 soldiers have been assisting North Yorkshire Police in the flood operations.

The troops have also helped the police, firefighters and search and rescue team members to check hundreds of homes and provide reassurance to concerned residents.

This effort is continued on Monday with the priority “re-visiting the most vulnerable people and properties and outlying rural communities” said a spokesperson.

They added: “However, with between 20mm and 40mm of rain forecasted on Wednesday, it is likely the emergency flood response and public safety measures will remain in place as we head into the weekend.”

Deputy Chief Constable Tim Madgwick, of North Yorkshire Police, said:

The police asked the public to heed safety notices, particularly on bridges in the York, Tadcaster, Boroughbridge and Malton area.

DCC Madgwick added:

Roads still closed

Here are the York roads still closed to traffic:

Roads now open

These roads have reopened today – information from York Council:

Community rallies round

Bell Farm Social Hall in Roche Avenue opened for people to donate items for those affected by the flooding.

City of York Council say they have had a great response to their appeal for volunteers for sandbags, and don’t need any more.