Communities across North Yorkshire were supported through two significant storms at the weekend, with emergency services and local authorities joining forces with power and water providers to keep people safe and maintain essential services.
Amongst the key risks throughout storms Austen and Boelo, which brought the first amber warning of autumn to the region, were flying debris, flood water, unsafe structures and power outages.
The response and recovery efforts were coordinated through the North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, led by ourselves on behalf of partners, and supported by many people across the county checking on friends and neighbours and clearing debris.
In total, partners dealt with more than 1,500 calls for help and assistance with Scarborough affected first.
The town experienced an extreme cloudburst event on Friday evening, with torrential downpours resulting in more than three inches of rain falling in an hour – overwhelming drainage systems and flooding some residential streets.
Properties on the Esplanade, Falsgrave Road, St Johns Road, Westwood Road and Westbourne Grove were inundated with water and several cars were stranded.
Our highways teams dealt with almost 200 calls for help between Friday and this morning (Monday), ranging from requests for sandbags to a significant number of reports of fallen trees, several of which were blocking roads. Whitby and Harrogate were among the areas most impacted, but no part of the county was left unscathed with debris strewn across all roads.
Chief resilience officer for the North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, Matt Robinson, said: “We are fortunate to have a strong community spirit in York and North Yorkshire, and we are very grateful to all those who looked out for anyone close to them who may have needed an extra bit of help over the weekend.
“We also know that the farming community helped clear roads of debris assisting highways teams to keep routes open or reopen them as quickly as possible and we want to say thank you to them.
“On a very practical level having key partners working closely like this allows the best possible use of intelligence and information sharing so that we can keep people safe.”
One such example is the Forum’s ability to use Northern Power Grid’s postcode data on areas experiencing a power outage.
Matt said: “This information was immediately cross referenced with our register of people who have social care support or who are being assessed for a care package.
“Working together allows us to swiftly prioritise welfare checks and support where it’s needed the most.”
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service attended 32 weather related incidents including, 12 flooded premises, 14 dangerous structures and two incidents of people trapped in vehicles in flood water.
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Garry Mackay, said: “This weekend was a real example of partners working together, both to prepare for the storms and to respond when communities needed us.
“Our crews had a busy weekend, attending more than 30 weather-related incidents, and I’d like to thank everyone involved in the response.
“Although the storms have passed, further rain is forecast this week, so please continue to take care. If you come across flood water, don’t attempt to drive through it. Turn around and find a safer route.”
North Yorkshire Police’s Force Control Room handled 758 emergency 999 calls and 1,314 non-emergency 101 calls across Saturday and Sunday, with 1,322 incidents recorded.
North Yorkshire Police’s Superintendent Andy Nunns, who chaired the multi-agency response, said: “I would like to thank all our partners who worked tirelessly throughout the weekend in preparation for, and response to, Storm Boelo. Their hard work, commitment and collaboration helped keep our communities safe during a period of disruption.
“Thankfully, the weekend passed without any major incidents, and the coordinated efforts of our partners ensured that essential services were able to continue operating as normally as possible.
“This is a testament to the strength of our partnerships and the dedication of everyone involved in keeping people safe and helping our communities remain resilient.”