South Yorkshire residents flee homes
- Published: 26/06/2007
Heavy rainfall in South Yorkshire has led to the residents of three villages leaving their homes over fears that a nearby reservoir may burst.
Around 100 homes in the villages of Catcliffe, Whiston and Canklow were cleared by police officers last night (Monday) after engineers issued a warning after noticing cracks in the wall of the 35-acre Ulley reservoir south of Rotherham.
Crews are pumping water out of the reservoir in order to ease pressure on the dam - as engineers work round the clock to strengthen its walls.
Ch Supt Matthew Jukes, of South Yorkshire Police, told the BBC he was unsure about the chances of the dam bursting.
"It's pretty difficult to tell at the moment to be absolutely frank," he commented.
"The situation is stable and there are some fine judgements being made, and obviously in the context of making those fine judgements we're taking that cautious approach to keeping people safe.
"We have taken people away from their homes, so hopefully the risk to life will be very limited, but clearly there's a substantial risk of damage to property and that's the one we're trying to mitigate."
Around 100 homes in the villages of Catcliffe, Whiston and Canklow were cleared by police officers last night (Monday) after engineers issued a warning after noticing cracks in the wall of the 35-acre Ulley reservoir south of Rotherham.
Crews are pumping water out of the reservoir in order to ease pressure on the dam - as engineers work round the clock to strengthen its walls.
Ch Supt Matthew Jukes, of South Yorkshire Police, told the BBC he was unsure about the chances of the dam bursting.
"It's pretty difficult to tell at the moment to be absolutely frank," he commented.
"The situation is stable and there are some fine judgements being made, and obviously in the context of making those fine judgements we're taking that cautious approach to keeping people safe.
"We have taken people away from their homes, so hopefully the risk to life will be very limited, but clearly there's a substantial risk of damage to property and that's the one we're trying to mitigate."