Another 55 homes have been evacuated from an English town threatened by a collapsing dam, emergency services said Sunday as they raced to reduce the water levels ahead of fresh storms. Around 1,500 people had already been moved out of Whaley Bridge in Derbyshire after part of the dam wall holding back the Toddbrook Reservoir above the town fell away on Thursday following heavy rain.
A military helicopter has been dropping sandbags to shore up the structure while emergency services have been working around the clock to pump water out of the reservoir. Water levels have now been reduced by one-third since Thursday, Deputy Fire Chief Gavin Tomlinson told reporters on Sunday morning. "Our priority remains the same, to pump as much water out of the reservoir as possible, to protect the Whaley Bridge community from the risk of the dam failing," he said.
He added: "A total of 22 pumps have been working through the night and we have been successful in taking about 35 percent of the water held in the reservoir out. "This work will continue until engineers are confident that the water is at a safe level and the risk has been mitigated."