Warwickshire County Highways responds to 78 Storm Dennis calls

Teams from the Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service, forestry, flooding and highways teams were among those working long hours throughout the weekend as Storm Dennis brought 25mm of rain across the county.

At one point, 16 flood warnings were in place at peak time across Warwickshire.

The County’s Highways Team responded to a total of 78 call outs between Saturday February 15 and Monday February 17 (28 in North Warwickshire, 51 in South Warwickshire).

Seven roads were closed across the county and unplanned traffic management was established at three points – A444 Northbound at Bedworth, A435 at Mappleborough Green and Stoneleigh Road by the National Agricultural Centre

Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service attended 17 incidents relating to Storm Dennis in the 48hour period.

These included rescuing five cars that had become stuck in flood water, two large animal rescues and five calls to reports of internal and external flooding.

Both large animal rescued occurred on Sunday. The first animal rescue involved a horse stuck in a flooded muddy field at a farm in Ansty near Rugby.

The second animal rescue happened after two horses were stuck in a flooded field in Stratford Road, Alcester.

The council’s Flood Risk Management Team responded to four reports of internal building flooding in properties around the county and 20 reports of highway, external property and garden flooding.

Cllr Izzi Seccombe, leader of Warwickshire County Council, said: “I know that a number of teams from the council worked long shifts this weekend to make sure that Warwickshire was kept safe and also able to return to business quickly in the aftermath of Storm Dennis.

“A lot of work goes on in the background to make sure that Warwickshire can respond swiftly and effectively when we are faced with an emergency.

"Yesterday, that preparation paid off and I am proud of, and grateful to, all those staff who worked with our communities to help to keep them and their properties safe.”

Further rain is expected this week, although the Met Office does not believe it will add to the flooding situation in Warwickshire.

However, Cllr Andy Crump, portfolio holder for Fire and Rescue and Community Safety, urged residents to remain alert.

He said: "I would urge our communities to follow advice provided and acknowledge weather warnings.

"If travel is required please proceed with caution and ensure that routes involving any water, especially fords or low-lying areas, are avoided.

"Warwickshire’s Fire and Rescue Service needs all of its capacity at times like this, whether to tackle problems in the county or to help our neighbouring counties, and we need our residents to avoid preventable incidents which take resource away.

"I would also call on our communities to look out for some of their more vulnerable residents and check that they are safe. Please, keep an eye on the Met Office website to get up to date information and plan any travelling accordingly."

For advice on what to do after a flood or to report any instances of property flooding, visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/floodingRoads Closed due to Storm Dennis:

• Binton Lane (Welford Bridge)

• Salters Lane, by rail bridge

• Langley Ford

• Kenilworth Ford

• Coughton Ford

• Coleshill Road Over Whitacre

• Haunch Lane

Roads with unplanned traffic management due to Storm Dennis

• A444 Northbound Bedworth - Lane two warning boards out

• A435 Mappleborough Green not closed but heavy water

• Stoneleigh Road by NAC - lights going out, car off road

Fire and Rescue Service Call Outs:

• 1 x tree fallen on a house

• 1x Request for mutual aid in H&WFRS area

• 2 x Large animal rescues

• 5 x cars stuck in flood water

• 1 x water in alarm system

• 2 x Building floods

• 5 x General flooding calls.

Flooding Headlines:

• Around 20 to 25mm of rain fell across Warwickshire

• At the peak there were 16 flood warnings across Warwickshire

• WCC, WFRS, NBBC & CSW Resilience worked across the county to support residents and protect property from flooding – this included providing sand bags and pumping out water from the worst affected areas

• WFRS also deployed assets to Tunbridge Wells to support

• Warwickshire County Council issued 25 posts on Facebook and Twitter reaching 154,960 people. 9,882 people actively engaged with our posts

Met Office Forward Look:

Looking at the coming week there are a few heavy showers in the forecast, but although some of these will be heavy with perhaps some hail and thunder they are not expected to add to the current flooding situation. There’s also some rain in the forecast at times later Wednesday into Thursday but much of this expected to be light except during Thursday afternoon when a short period of heavy rain may again increase the amount of water running onto the roads from saturated fields.