Whitehall has activated an emergency fund for councils affected by flooding.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government confirmed the emergency Bellwin scheme will be available to reimburse local authorities for their costs following the evacuation of Whaley Bridge in Derbyshire and flooding in Lincolnshire and North Yorkshire.
Costs including rest centres, temporary accommodation and staff overtime will be covered by the fund.
Local government secretary Robert Jenrick praised council workers and residents for their ‘resilience,’ adding: ‘The Government is committed to helping the places affected by these recent events to get back on their feet.’
Another £5m of one-off funds will also be spent to aid recovery from the impact of the extreme weather.
Business secretary Andrea Leadsom has announced traders affected by the Whaley Bridge evacuation will receive up to £100,000 while £150,000 of funding will also go to High Peak BC to aid recovery of the local economy.
‘Exceptional’ funding of £3m has been provided by the Department for Transport to replace two damaged bridges in Yorkshire and a further £2m from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs will be available for farming businesses affected by the weather.
The town of Whaley Bridge was also evacuated for five days amid fears a dam (pictured) could be breached, and roads in Lincolnshire were left impassable.
Heavy rain and landslides caused damage to bridges, roads and farmland in the North Yorkshire dales.
Chief executive of North Yorkshire CC, Richard Flinton, said the landslides had been cleared from roads and one of the bridges washed away by the floods had been replaced, with others to follow.
‘We are making very significant progress,’ he said. ‘We are a large council with significant capabilities. It’s a measure of how councils can stand up and deal with these incidents.’
This story first appeared on themj.co.uk.
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