With 11 flood warnings and multiple flood alerts in place throughout Cumbria yesterday (4 November), teams from across Castles & Coasts Housing Association (CCHA) pulled together to support residents.
Colleagues monitor weather conditions, river levels, and flood alerts 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in line with our Flood Response Plan, during autumn and winter. Yesterday, they took the difficult decision to evacuate a number of residents in Cockermouth due to potential flooding, including some from the ground floor of Victoria Court, one of our independent living schemes.
Aiming to have everyone safely relocated while it was still light, residents were contacted directly by the Lettings & Neighbourhoods and Independent Living Teams to offer reassurance and to make all the necessary arrangements.
Maintenance and Castles & Coasts Services (CCS) colleagues were also on the ground installing flood defences to each home to make sure they were protected in case of flooding. Residents had been relocated and teams had left the site safely by 5pm.
Acting early in the day meant the evacuation was completed ahead of the forecasted peak and while daylight conditions supported safer movement for residents and colleagues.
We continued to monitor the situation overnight and this morning, and have confirmed that residents can return home.
Dawn Clark, CCHA’s Chief Executive, said: “Our primary priority is always the safety and wellbeing of our residents. Our teams work around the clock during autumn and winter to monitor weather conditions and took the precautionary decision to evacuate residents yesterday because of the identified flood risk. Everyone worked so hard to support those affected and took every possible measure to protect residents and their homes.
“While we understand how disruptive this can be for residents, we always want to make sure that they are safe; this was handled with care and compassion and was done as a precaution to make sure everyone was safe, and that they could return to a home that was protected from potential flooding.”
We have produced guidance on how to prepare for flooding, available on our website here.