Ryedale | Archive | 2005 | July | 21
From the archive, first published Thursday 21st Jul 2005.
THE REPAIR bill for bridges and roads devastated by freak floods in North Yorkshire could come to almost £5 million.
And council bosses are facing a race to get the majority of the work done in time to qualify for Government funding.
News of the massive bill came as environment bosses revealed that a total of 128 properties were flooded on June 19 after a month's worth of rain - 70 mms, or almost three inches - fell in an hour at Hawnby, near Helmsley.
Dales area flood defence manager Peter Holmes said the area would normally expect about 70mms in the whole of June. He added that a rain gauge at Hawnby had shown that an astonishing 60 mms - more than two inches - fell in just half an hour.
He told the Yorkshire Regional Flood Defence Committee that the final figures for flooded properties included eight at Hawnby, 17 at Helmsley, 48 in Thirsk, eight at Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe and seven at Rievaulx.
He said debris left behind by the floods included 40ft trees snapped off at the base and at least 40 animal carcases. "I have never seen anything like it," he said.
Committee members agreed that it would be impossible to design flood defences to protect properties from such a freak event.
The flash floods in the Helmsley and Thirsk area destroyed bridges and culverts, smashed through stone walls, ruined roads, triggered land-slips and swept away footbridges.
Meanwhile, North Yorkshire County Council said that the cost of repairing 26 bridges in the county has been estimated at £2.26 million.
However, the figure could rise to £3.3million, because the bridge at Shaken, near Helmsley, was so badly damaged that it is in danger of collapse.
Engineers plan to reinforce it at a cost of £280,000, and then reclaim the stone and rebuild at a cost £800,000. However, if the bridge collapses and the stone is lost, repairs will cost a further £1 million.
Divisional highways engineer Peter Renshaw warned that in order to meet the criteria for Government cash, the council had to complete the majority of repair work within eight weeks.
A total of 32 footbridges were also washed away in the North York Moors National Park and will cost £520,000 to replace.
Reconstructing roads in Ryedale and Hambleton is expected to cost more than £1 million. The clean-up cost was £75,000.
Vale of York MP Anne McIntosh said that Floods Minister Elliott Morley had given her a "sympathetic hearing" at a meeting to discuss action in the wake of the flash floods.
She said he had pledged that the Government would pay for repairs to public roads - but could not provide assistance for privately owned bridges and roads.
Updated: 16:36 Wednesday, July 20, 2005
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