'I'm trapped. I've told mountain rescue but they said I'm not a priority' – the victims' tales

Published on Friday 20 November 2009 21:46

JOHN Carlin, owner of the Allerdale Court Hotel in Cockermouth town centre: "I have lived here for 15 years and have never seen anything like it. At two o'clock, it was raining heavily but there was nothing here. But now there is 4ft of water outside my front door. The amount of rain has been staggering."

&#149 Phil Howe, from Cockermouth: "I'm trapped in my office on the main street of Cockermouth. Luckily, I have a bedsit on the third floor. I've been in contact with mountain rescue, but I'm not a priority because I'm fit and healthy.

"I can see rescue boats going up and down the street. At one point, the water was up to 6ft, but it has dropped a bit."

&#149 Helen Cooper, from Croftside, Cockermouth: "My husband and mother-in-law were stuck in the house, but me and my daughter were safe because I went to pick her up from school yesterday, and when I came back I couldn't get back into my house.

"We've been so worried because they were stranded there overnight. We've got nothing left but the clothes we are standing in, but I am so happy to see them safe."

&#149 David McKittrick, from Ambleside: "I had an appointment in Kendal, but got as far as Ambleside and was stopped by the police and told I couldn't go any further because the roads were blocked. Even then, the water was rising behind me.

"I ended up having to stay in a hotel in Ambleside overnight. The roads were full of debris and logs."

&#149 Sue Cashmore, from Cockermouth: "I am trapped upstairs in my house with my two daughters and my daughter's boyfriend.

"This is the third time in four years we've been flooded, so we knew what to expect, although it's never been as bad as this. Our entire downstairs is flooded – it's up to chest height."

&#149 Claire Connor, from Tallentire, Cockermouth: "We tried driving out of the village this morning for the school run – both roads out were flooded with foot-deep lakes, and in a small hatchback, I didn't dare risk it.

"Although we live in a house on high ground, the road through the village is a streaming river."

&#149 Martyn Benson, 38, from Workington, had his basement and workshop flooded and took three hours to drive 20 miles home from his job at BNFL in Seascale.

"I was just terrified, to be honest. But we have escaped the worst of it," he said.

"Other people have lost everything. One of my neighbours was breaking her heart, because her house was flooded and she didn't have time to grab the family photo album or her wedding album."