A Hull Of A Job - More Flood Rescues!
An emergency team from Redcar lifeboat station were part of a major rescue operation in the city of Hull when widepread flooding hit the UK at the end of June 2007.

On 26th of June and following several days of torrential rain in many parts of England the city of Hull on the Humber estuary was struck by serious flooding over a large number of areas.

The RNLI Divisional Base for the north region holds an emergency "D" class lifeboat and Land Rover in constant readiness for emergencies such as this and a team of crewmembers were asked to make the 100 mile journey to Hull with the boat to assist in rescue operations.

On arrival in Hull city centre the team were given a high-speed police escort to an area of major flooding in the Arcon Drive area of the city. (Link to Google Maps - Arcon Drive, Hull)

There the "D" class was used to rescue an elderly woman who was in urgent need of dialysis for a kidney problem. She had to be carried from the 3rd floor flat to the "D" class waiting outside before being helped to a waiting ambulance.

Almost immediately after this rescue had been carried out the team were tasked to another flooded area on the other side of the city. Together with Coastguard and Humber Rescue boat teams another high speed dash was made to the Kingswood area of town - to a road ironically named Clearwater! (Link to Google Maps - Clearwater)

There the fire brigade were using high volume pumps to take the floodwater several miles away from the affected area. The team were not immediately required and were therefore re-tasked with a police escort to evacuate an elderly couple living in the Bransholme area of town (Link to Google Maps - Bude Road).

There the team found that the couple had been effectively marooned in the upstairs of their home by the floodwater for over 24hours. The man was a wheelchair user and was unable to help himself out of the property, partially because the water had knocked out his electric stair lift. The team carried him to the waiting Land Rover, specially adapted to operate in water. Together with his wife and personal belongings he was driven to dry ground to be reunited with grateful family members. Whilst operating in this area the teams Land Rover was used to help a gas engineer locate a potentially dangerous gas leak.

The team finally returned to the Kingswood area to await further duties however after a review of the situation they were informed that they could stand down and begin the long journey home.

See press links here: [BBC Tees] [ BBC Humber] [Local Press] [Local Press] [Local Press]

...first published 27 June 07...