cLose UP Nor any drop to drink to the surprise of many, RnLi lifeboat crews headed inland this summer, responding to a different kind of emergency. Carol Waterkeyn fi nds out what was going on What can be worse than losing your home and everything in it? surely only the loss of life itself. it was to prevent just this that local and national emergency services, including the RnLi, worked together during the severe fl ooding that hit parts of england and Wales this summer.

already saturated gardens and fi elds were fi nally engulfed when a period of extraordinarily intense rain caused drains and rivers to overfl ow. there was water everywhere but not the kind you could drink. What follows is a diary of the part played by the RnLi and, over the page, an explanation of the risks and skills involved. But what caused the fl ooding in the fi rst place? ? ‘Water, water, every where And all the boards did shrink Water, water, every where Nor any drop to drink’ From the Rime of the Ancient Mariner by samuel taylor Coleridge JUNE 26 seven lifeboat crew members from Redcar, north Yorkshire, travel 120 miles with a D class lifeboat and lifesaving equipment to help people in Hull.

the city’s sea defences are no barrier to the landborne waters. meanwhile, RnLi volunteers from Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, evacuate 15 people from homes and a community centre in the Willows estate, Grimsby.

27 People rescued today include a woman in urgent need of dialysis and a couple in their 80s. 29 the newly formed national Flood support team requests help from the RnLi in anticipation of fl ooding in south Yorkshire. ten members of the Rapid Response unit (RRu) make their way to meet two D class lifeboats despatched from Headquarters in Poole. 30 the RRu team is now operating in toll Bar, Doncaster and sheffi eld. they are patrolling the streets in lifeboats, evacuating householders and making sure that any still camping at home are safe. they also give safety advice to children playing in or near the water and anyone attempting to get through the fl oodwaters in their own vehicles. JULY 1 as the immediate emergency is over, the clear-up operation starts for thousands. RRu members return gratefully to their own homes. 19 an RnLi RRu team is put on alert due to the threat of fl ooding further south, in Worcester. 20 severe weather hits Gloucester and tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, Worcester, tenbury Wells and upton-on-severn in Worcestershire, Kingston-uponthames in surrey, Weston-super-mare in avon, and Oxford. Local authorities request assistance and the RRu deploys. a police escort on the m5 eases an arduous journey. 21 Operations start at 3.15am. One RRu team rescues people from the tops of caravans at Hardlow, Worcestershire. they evacuate elderly residents and rescue a casualty from the water in Pershore, Worcestershire. Crew also see action in Droitwich, Kidderminster, Wick and Hawford. the initial team of 12 is supplemented with a further 11 from the RRu and lifeboat stations. now equipped with four lifeboats, they can work around the clock in shifts. 22 it’s sunday morning and both RnLi teams set up base at Gloucester fi re station. they evacuate a woman, her 7-month-old baby and several elderly people from the Royal British Legion club in tewkesbury. also in Gloucestershire, team members evacuate from a care home six adults with learning diffi culties and two support workers. a third RRu team arrives. 23 Rescue work continues day and night with minimal breaks. Overnight, the RnLi provides the safety cover, and only means of escape, for the team of engineers trying to protect Welham electricity substation.

During the day, they provide humanitarian help, delivering bottled water and medication, and transport emergency service personnel. RnLi-adapted Landrovers pull to safety people in their stranded cars. One team helps transport power workers and a portable generator to the Castle meads switching station. a further 10 RnLi personnel arrive, allowing some of their colleagues to withdraw while maintaining full capability on scene. 24 at 6.25am a man and seven animals are rescued – including four Rottweilers! 25 the water starts to recede. the RRu stands down at 8.30am, exhausted but high from all the support and kindness they have themselves received while doing their lifesaving work. in all, they have rescued over 140 people. ‘the fl oodwater was fl owing at a frightening 8–15 knots. We were rescuing people from a caravan park south of Kidderminster. Residents were fast asleep, oblivious that the nearby river had burst its banks and was fl owing through the site, tearing away the caravans in its path.’ alwyn Dunn, RRu member and Helmsman at Flint lifeboat station, Clwyd. World weather systems met Offi ce fi gures show that england and Wales experienced their wettest may–July since records began in 1766.

the jet stream, a ribbon of very strong winds in the upper atmosphere, largely determines where the weather systems that bring rain to the British isles will develop. For much of this summer, the jet stream was further south and stronger than usual. this resulted in more lowpressure systems crossing southern and central parts of the uK, some of which interacted with the very warm air over europe, generating the exceptionally heavy rainfall. the already sodden earth was unable to soak up the excess.

there are many serious hazards of fl ooding: • drowning in the fast-moving waters • dehydration from loss of drinking water supplies • bacterial and viral infection from exposure to sewage • physical injury from submerged hazards • poisoning by toxic chemicals such as petrol and pesticides • electrocution or carbon monoxide poisoning from using appliances in wet or confi ned spaces • distress, anxiety and depression.

The RNLI Rapid Response Unit the RRu is a crack group of RnLi volunteers and staff specially trained to deal with fl ood disasters. three teams of 20 people are on a rota to be ready to deploy at 24 hours notice. all RRu members, and some volunteer crew at stations adjacent to areas prone to fl ooding, receive swiftwater Rescue technician (sRt) training, which prepares them for the different behaviour of fl oodwaters and the special hazards involved. each team undertakes a 3-day training exercise every year to refresh their skills and everyone attends an annual conference.

Home and abroad the unit was set up following the RnLi’s fl ood relief work in mozambique in 2000, although the RnLi has been helping in such disasters since the fl oods in east Pakistan in 1970. it was most recently deployed in Guyana in 2005. in the uK, members of the RRu and/or sRt-trained volunteers from lifeboat stations have seen service in Lewes and uckfi eld in sussex in 2000 and Carlisle in Cumbria in 2005. When overseas, the costs of RRu operations are borne by the Government’s Department for international Development, but the equipment, training and logistics are provided through public generosity.

Ready for anything RRu members wear an alternative kit to deal with the different conditions they fi nd themselves in, including personal fl otation devices rather than lifejackets and red or yellow canoe-type helmets. they carry spare engines, generators, clothing, lifejackets and sundry stores to ensure they are self-suffi cient, and use D class lifeboats and lifeguard inshore rescue boats. almost fl at bottomed and highly manoeuvrable, these craft are perfect for negotiating unexpected hazards like submerged cars and fences in water of unknown depth.

they can also be defl ated, packed and reinfl ated quickly, enabling rapid transport.

Future ? ooding? in the midst of disaster, one positive outcome to draw from this summer’s events is that people who live far from the sea and know little of the RnLi have seen the charity active in their own communities and realised its signifi cance.

Flood rescue neatly complements the lifesaving service provided at more than 230 lifeboat stations around the coast of the uK and Roi, on the River thames and on selected inland waterways, and seasonal lifeguarding on more than 70 beaches. (see page 10 for news of a fully integrated service planned for Dartmouth in Devon.) Hugh Fogarty, RnLi staff Offi cer in charge of the charity’s fl ood response, explains: ‘the RnLi has always adapted to new situations both on the coast and inland and will continue to meet the challenges of saving lives in the future. We have no statutory obligation with regard to inland fl ooding but, providing a formal request is made and there is an immediate risk to life, the RnLi will respond.’.