Section:GDN 1N PaGe:7 Edition Date:190808 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 7/8/2019 20:16 cYanmaGentaYellowbla
Thursday 8 August 2019 The Guardian •
National^7
Residents of Whaley Bridge
relieved to be heading home
Helen Pidd
North of England editor
A bout 1,500 residents of Whaley
Bridge in Derbyshire were allowed to
return home yesterday almost a week
after being evacuated when a nearby
dam threatened to collapse.
Parts of the town were evacuated
last Thursday after heavy rain dam-
aged the dam at Toddbrook reservoir,
which sits high above.
Rachel Swann, the deputy chief
constable of Derbyshire police , said
the decision had been taken because
the immediate danger posed to the
town and the areas downstream in the
Goyt valley ha d now passed.
“The hard work and dedication to
achieve this has been quite simply
incredible and means that I am now
able to lift the evacuation order placed
on Whaley Bridge and the surrounding
area ,” Swann said.
“At the forefront of our thoughts
are the communities aff ected by this
incident who have been steadfast in
the face of the peril that lay behind that
dam wall.”
The danger posed by the millions
of tonnes of water, which would have
destroyed homes and livelihoods,
should not be underestimated, he said.
Though heavy rain is forecast for
the next few days, experts from the
Environment Agency (EA) were con-
fi dent that the reservoir would cope,
said Swann. She stressed that the
dam was not yet fi xed, but a 24-hour
pumping operation had reduced water
levels below the damaged section.
“Over the coming days and weeks
further work will be completed to
ascertain the damage caused to
the dam wall and what actions are
required for the future. We must not
forget that the dam is broken.
“The Environment Agency has con-
fi rmed that the measures remaining in
place at the dam will be able to manage
the levels of rain forecasted, modelling
against a number of scenarios. With
this, and confi rmation of the eff ective-
ness of the work to repair the damage
done and reduce the water coming into
the reservoir, I am able to confi rm it
is safe for people to go back to their
homes ,” she said.
Bill Derbyshire, an EA spokesman ,
said: “The Toddbrook dam requires
significant engineering works to
bring it to a condition where its long-
term safety can be assured. The
Environment Agency expect the
Canal & River Trust to do the necessary
investigations and engineering work
to make the dam safe and protect
the community.”
After six nights away from home ,
residents were allowed to return
yesterday, with the help of police or
partner agencies if necessary. The
vast majority of people had sought
sanctuary with friends or family living
on higher ground.
Anne Leyland, a community centre
and book shop owner , claimed to own
the fi rst business to reopen in Wha-
ley Bridge. She said: “Me and thegentleman next door at the Phoenix
were the fi rst to open, but of course,
he’s got to cook food.”
Leyland said the evacuation had
forced her to make a 40-mile round
trip to buy milk. “It’s ridiculous. But
the road is open now ,” she added.
One resident, Karen Edleston,
decided to immediately get her hair
cut as she entered the town for the fi rst
time in almost a week.
She said: “Well, I was desperate to
get my hair cut because I’m going to
a wedding on Saturday and I didn’t
know where I would go if I didn’t come
back here. So as soon as I realised it
was open, I contacted [the hairdresser ]
Julian and he agreed to come down.”Speaking of how it felt to be back in
Whaley Bridge, Edleston said: “Very
good. It’s excellent.”
The owner of Adeva hairdress ing,
Julian Thompson, said he did not
know how he would cope if residents
and business had be kept from return-
ing for another week.
“It’s been horrendous. It’s been a
huge, huge worry. It was incredible,
the response by everybody ... but it’s
just huge relief now.”
Thompson added: “It’s been very,
very diffi cult. I’m relieved it’s only
gone on for a week because I was
thinking, if it goes on for another week
or so, what am I going to do? I have staff
and I have to pay their wages. A week, I
could just about do it – any longer than
that and I’m starting to panic. But now,
I feel like I’ve got my life back.”
Speaking of the operation workers
had carried out on the dam, Malcolm
Swets, the manager of Goyt Wines in
Whaley Bridge , said: “They’ve done a
fantastic job, they couldn’t have done
any better. It’s all been done in a pro-
fessional manner – they are welcome
to a drink if they want one.
“I’m not saying we planned for this
day but if it wasn’t going to be today, it
would be tomorrow. There was always
going to be disruption, it was just a
question of how long it would be. ”
Derbyshire police said there would
be a visible police presence in and
around the area for the next seven days
to help the community and address
any concerns. They thanked residents
for their patience with the operation.
“The resolve, community spirit,
kindness and generosity to their fel-
low residents, businesses, friends
and family shown in the face of such
danger has been extraordinary,” said
Swann. “That same kindness was
given to the hundreds of multi agency
workers at the dam , whose sole focus
has been to ensure the resolution to
this unprecedented crisis.”▼ Police talk to residents and business
owners driving back to Whaley Bridge
yesterday after last week’s evacuation
PHOTOGRAPH: CHRISTOPHER THOMOND/GUARDIANGreek rescuers
fi nd body of
British scientist
in ravine close
to her hotel
Helena Smith
AthensRescuers searching for a British
scientist who disappeared while
jogging on the remote Aegean island
of Ikaria have found her body at the
bottom of a ravine.
Natalie Christopher, 35, was found
yesterday less than a mile from the
hotel where she was holidaying with
her partner. Greek media reported that
a large rock, apparently dislodged as
she fell, had crushed her.
Police said emergency services had
discovered a body “in a 20-metre-deep
ravine in an impassable mountain
area” and confi rmed it was that of
Christopher.
Offi cers said an investigation would
be launched into the circumstances
of the scientist’s death , focusing on
whether she slipped or if other factors
contributed to her fall.
Firefi ghters, soldiers, volunteers,
coastguard offi cials and more than 40
police offi cers had joined the search
for Christopher, an Anglo-Cypriot
astrophysicist and extreme sports
enthusiast who went missing on
Monday. Police had deployed sniff er
dogs and dispatched a helicopter
equipped with infrared cameras to
the island, as well as offi cers special-
ising in phone-tracking technology.
Christopher’s Cypriot boyfriend
reported her missing when she failed
to return by midday to their hotel in
the popular area of Kerame, in the
north of the island. Hours earlier she-
left a note informing that him she was
going jogging.
Police said: “He called her around
10am to ask where she was. At around
12pm, when she still hadn’t shown
up, he became worried and informed
the police.”
Blood-stained linen found in the
couple’s room had been sent to a
laboratory for DNA testing, police
confi rmed, suggesting it might prove
vital evidence in the investigation.
Christopher, who lived in Nico-
sia, the Cypriot capital, was a much
respected peace activist who had long
campaigned for the reunifi cation of
the ethnically divided island.
Greek and Turkish Cypriots on both
sides of the UN-patrolled ceasefi re
line that splits Cyprus had expressed
horror at her disappearance, pleading
for information on her whereabouts
via a social media appeal.▲ Inspections continue yesterday on
the dam at Toddbrook reservoir▲ Natalie Christopher, an astro-
physicist, went missing while jogg ingРЕЛИЗ ПОДГОТОВИЛА ГРУППА "What's News" VK.COM/WSNWS