Whaley Bridge dam collapse: Villagers may not be allowed home for six more days as more storms forecast

Evacuated Whaley Bridge residents are to be told they may not be allowed home for another six days as firefighters battle to prevent a damaged dam bursting over the Peak District village.

Engineers have said water levels at Toddbrook Reservoir, in Derbyshire, need to be reduced by at least seven metres before the failing wall would be considered safe.

But, with a fortnight’s worth of rain forecast to fall on Sunday, there are still fears of a total collapse before repairs can be made good.

Another 55 homes were evacuated on Saturday because of the predicted heavy rain.

About 1,500 villagers who had already been ordered to leave their homes on Thursday – many with just five minutes’ warning – are likely to be given the new six-day estimate at a public meeting being planned for the makeshift evacuation centre at Chapel-en-le-Frith High School on Sunday afternoon.

“Everyone is working their absolute hardest to ensure Whaley Bridge stays safe but we are working against time and against the elements,” said Anthony McKeown, leader of High Peak Borough Council, which is helping coordinate the response. “The safety of villagers is the absolute priority, and there will be no one allowed to return before that safety can be guaranteed.”

He said engineers had briefed officials on Friday that water levels at the 1-billion litre facility needed to drop by seven metres – and that about a metre was being removed every 24 hours.

The figure was confirmed by a spokesperson for the Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service, which also said that more than 150 firefighters were working around the clock at the site.

Coun McKeon told The Independent: “The situation is variable because new high power pumps are being put in place even as we speak which will quicken up the emptying of the reservoir but there is also the changing weather to take into account.”

He said that authorities were expecting a surge of new people needing to be housed on Sunday. “A lot of those evacuated have perhaps been staying with friends or paying for B&Bs over the weekend, but that may not be sustainable beyond Sunday, so there is planning for that scenario.”

Asked if he had been impressed by the community’s response, he said: “It’s been fantastic. We’ve had local pizza shops taking food to the firemen and to the evacuation centre. There is a sense that everyone’s in this together.”

He spoke shortly after the Met Office issued a yellow severe weather warning for thunderstorms and heavy showers in the area.

Forecaster Craig Snell said that 30-40mm of rain could fall in just a couple of hours on Sunday. The average monthly rain fall for August is a little shy of 100mm.

“The warning stretches from north Derbyshire to the Great Glen in Scotland,” he said. “We are not saying that kind of rain will fall everywhere within that but this is where it is most likely. And where it hits, we expect it to be extremely heavy and for it to bring disruption.”

Some residents were briefly allowed back to their homes on Saturday to collect essential belongings One person per household was given 15 minutes to go back to their property – with the police stressing they did so at their own risk.

They were told that should the dam collapse while they were in the evacuated zone, they would hear emergency vehicles blast their horns three times.

Police said the extra evacuations on Saturday were due to the risk of adverse weather and the ongoing risk of the Toddbrook Reservoir breaching.

Meanwhile, the area’s Labour MP Ruth George has written to Boris Johnson following his flying visit to the area on Friday.

She said: “It’s not just about the emergency situation – Whaley Bridge as a town needs to be able to feel safe and we need to know what the options are.

“We’re expecting lots and lots of rain over the next few days so I can quite understand the authorities not being prepared to say it’s safe until those storms have gone.”