Taken from today's www.thisisthenortheast.co.uk - the on line Northern Echo.

copy &paste as current URL will change

DAYS of heavy rain put rivers and becks on high flood alert yesterday, giving
many residents a sleepless night as they watched the waters rising near their
homes.

Parts of North Yorkshire were badly hit, with Northallerton, Thirsk and
Brompton all being placed on an Environment Agency flood warning in the early
hours of the morning.

The warnings were later downgraded to a flood watch as the water levels
started to recede.

But with showery rain being forecast for the rest of the week, residents were
warned to stay on their guard.

Cod Beck peaked at 3pm yesterday in Dalton, near Thirsk. It was 3.69 metres
above its normal level and rose to within a few feet of many properties,
including a number of sheltered flats for elderly people.

One resident of the Waterside flats, who did not want to be named, said: "The
water woke me up at about 5am and it was coming up pretty rapidly then. It
wasn't calm water that was rising either, it was coming in waves and it was
really rough."

Brompton beck, in Brompton, near Northallerton, peaked at 5am at 1.56 metres
above its normal level.

Stewart Chapman, who lives in Water End, Brompton, said: "The water came up on
the bank at about 3.30am. People were up then wondering what was going to
happen. There were a few people out checking the water and lights were on in
the lowest properties.

"As far as I am aware, I don't think there are any houses flooded, but the
water was out across the road at one point."

Lustrum Beck, in Stockton, was also placed on a flood warning and Cleveland,
Darlington and the North York Moors were put on flood watch in the early hours
of yesterday.

A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: "We have not had any reports of
property flooding. We are not expecting any major problems and we are not
expecting to issue any more flood warnings.

"The current flood warnings may be in place for a couple of days before the
river levels start going down."

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Nick in Northallerton
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