Severe weather bulletin – Flooding response update 23 November 2017

Lancashire County Council had staff out throughout the night, from both its Highways teams and its Resilience service, responding to flooding in various parts of the county. Last night's flooding, particularly affected the north of the county. The problems were caused by the sheer volume of rainwater.  Fortunately, when the rain stopped at around 4am this morning, the flooding cleared quite quickly. Out of hours highways teams across the county, including drivers on standby for gritting duties, spent all night assisting the emergency services and the Environment Agency, clearing drains and culverts, putting out warning signs and delivering sandbags. At one point overnight there was no access into Lancaster from the north, south, east or west and Highways England closed the M6 at junction 34. Staff worked overnight and managed to get the main routes into Lancaster open in time for rush hour, with just one issue on the A6 south of junction 34. Resilience staff also worked through the night, helping to co-ordinate the county response and supporting rest centres and have continued to support residents into today. Highways staff have been taken off normal daytime duties today and will be out assessing damage to highways, clearing any debris left on roads or washed into drains. Staff from the council's Flood Risk Management team are visiting residents affected by flooding today, to offer advice and support.