Residents who had to be evacuated from Whaley Bridge can now return home after nearly a week of fear over the dam.
Around 1,500 residents were removed from their homes on Thursday after the town’s dam at Toddbrook Reservoir was damaged during heavy rain. Emergency workers worked for six days to get the dam wall repaired and the water levels back to a safe level so people could go back home.
The Toddbrook Reservoir contained 1.3 million tonnes of water and sits above hundreds of homes and businesses in the town.
An RAF helicopter was brought in to help repair the damaged reservoir which held a threat of flooding the town. Engineers had to pump the water out of the Toddbrook Reservoir, in Derbyshire, after part of a dam wall collapsed.
Deputy Chief Constable Rachel Swann said the evacuation order for Whaley Bridge and surrounding areas had been lifted.
The danger from the dam “which would have destroyed homes and livelihoods, could not be underestimated”, she added.
Swann added: “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,”
“At the forefront of our thoughts are the communities affected 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, could not be underestimated.
“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 confirmed 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 confirmation of the effectiveness of the work to repair the damage done and reduce the water coming into the reservoir, I am able to confirm it is safe for people to go back to their homes.”
Despite many people leaving their homes there was also people who refused to leave even though part of the barrier collapsed.
The water was reduced by over 8.4m in the reservoir. Fire crews used 23 high-volume pumps to remove the reservoir’s water and the dam wall was packed full of 530 tonnes of aggregate, which is being cemented into place to reinforce the spillway.
