Around 1,500 people have been evacuated from Whaley Bridge, Derbyshire, following the collapse of part of the dam wall of the Toddbrook Reservoir, which threatens to swamp the town with 300 million gallons of water if it fails.
Local label printer Interket announced on social media yesterday afternoon (1 August) that it would be closing for the day due to the evacuation.
An RAF helicopter has been drafted in to drop 400 tonnes of aggregate around the reservoir to reinforce the dam today.
Interket remains closed. Sales and operations director Tim Pattison wrote on LinkedIn: “Currently the situation is still ongoing, as instructed by the emergency services and the Environment Agency the evacuation of the area remains in place.
“This is an unprecedented, fast-moving, emergency situation and it is unfortunate that these extenuating circumstances are causing a disruption to the normal activities of Interket and is also causing delay to the despatch of product.
“All being well, the evacuation status from the authorities will be lifted as soon as safe to do so. As soon as the evacuation status is lifted, we will return to normal duties.”
The damage to the dam in Whaley Bridge comes after a significant downpour in the North West saw 19mm of rain falling over eight hours on the night of Wednesday 31 July.
Flooding largely affected areas in Derbyshire, Cheshire and Greater Manchester, with Poynton-based Galloways clearing away overnight flooding and Stockport bookbinder and printer Deanprint currently assessing damage to its plant.
Interket’s phone line is set to busy, with regular updates currently being posted on the 79-staff company’s Twitter and LinkedIn accounts.
Onsite, it runs a variety of presses for UV flexo, water-based and litho printing, as well as finishing kit for inkjet coding, cutting and lamination.
Peartree Print, a small commercial printer also in the town, is not currently answering its phone.
Derbyshire Constabulary assistant chief constable Kem Mehmet, said: “Our message today remains the same – as there is still a risk the dam will fail, please stay away from the area.
“We don’t know how long this operation will take to conclude but we and our colleagues in the emergency services, partner agencies, Environment Agency and military are doing everything humanly possible to save the reservoir wall and to protect the town.”
