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People
in Boscastle are coming to terms with the devastation caused by
Monday's flash floods.
Click
here
to send in your messages of support and stories of Boscastle.
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Click
here
for details of how you can contribute to the North Cornwall
Flood appeal.
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A torrent
of water ten feet high surged through the village when around two
and a half inches of rain fell in just two hours.
Click
here
to
see a gallery of the devastation and clean up operation in
Boscastle on Tuesday 17th.
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Click
here
to
see more of the devastation and clean up operation in Boscastle
on Wednesday 18th.
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Click
here
to
see a gallery of Prince Charles visit to Boscastle on Wednesday
18th.
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Click
here
to
see a gallery of repair work in Boscastle on September 30th.
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Hundreds
of people were evacuated from their homes, and people had to be
rescued from roofs, trees, and vehicles. There were dozens of tourists
visiting the picturesque resort at the time.
Monday
16th August Audio from Boscastle
大象传媒
Radio Cornwall's Naomi Rowe spent Monday afternoon and evening
in Boscastle.  Click
here to listen
to her interview with villager, Mike Bernard.
One
of the shopkeepers evacuated from her business in the centre
of Boscastle was Jackie Paige. Click
here to listen to her explaining how she
came to be rescued.
North
Cornwall MP Paul Tyler was amongst the motorists caught
in the floodwater on the A39 Atlantic Highway near Otterham
Station. Click
here for Hannah Stacey's interview with Mr
Tyler.
To
listen to any of the above audio you will need a version
of Real Player:
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Tuesday
17th August Audio from Boscastle
and the surrounding area
The
Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall was in Boscastle on
Tuesday
Click
here to listen to Maria
Wallace speaking to our reporter Hannah Stacey.
The
operation to evacuate people from Boscastle was one of the
biggest rescues in recent years in Cornwall. Seven helicopters
from RAF St Mawgan, RNAS Culdrose, RAF Chivernor and the
coastguard station at Portland were scrambled to the village
to help reach people stranded on roof tops because of the
flood water.
Click
here to listen to Flight
Lieutenant Carol Holt who was involved in the rescue.
The
community of Crackington Haven was also hit by a torrential
downpour. Click
here to listen to 大象传媒 Radio Cornwall's Michael
Taylor talking to Nicola Bird from the local pub.
To listen to any of the above audio you will need a version
of Real Player:
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Friday
20th August Audio from Boscastle
Households
near Boscastle harbour that have been without power since
Monday had electricity from emergency generators flown in
by the military on Friday.
Click
here for Matt Small's
report from 大象传媒 Radio Cornwall.
The
National Trust owns eight buildings in Boscastle as well as
many of the roads, one of the bridges and the sea walls -
not to mention the coastal footpath which has been destroyed
in places.
Click
here to listen to senior
building surveyor, Peter Bee talking to 大象传媒 Radio Cornwall's
Denis Nightingale.
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Monday
23rd August
Audio from Boscastle
The
people of Boscastle this weekend gave thanks in church and
chapel for the fact that no-one died in last Monday's devastating
floods.
Click
here for Matt Small's
report.
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Click
here
to
email in your experiences of the flash floods and photographs.
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If
you a concerned about friends and family in Boscastle you
can call:
08705 329 567
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Background
The
storms on Monday 16th August saw more than 6cm (2ins) of rain fall
in two hours.
More
than a dozen people were airlifted to safety in a rescue operation
that continued through the night.
Some
were taken to the village rectory, which is on high ground in Boscastle.
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| Peoples
belongings hang from windows |
Reverend
Christine Musser said: "Local people are saying they have never
seen anything quite like this.
"It
just escalated so quickly. All of a sudden we found ourselves in
the middle of a disaster, which nobody I don't think was prepared
for at all."
But
she added: "There is a very strong spirit in this place.
"They
are used to tough times often in this part of the world, so people
will rally round very quickly and see what needs to be done and
we will get on and do it."
Eye
witness accounts
Tourist
Alan Graham and his family, from Benfleet, Essex, had been in the
Boscastle visitors centre when the floods hit.
"The
front door of the visitors centre smashed through and torrents of
water came in until, in the end, half the visitors' centre got smashed
away," he said.
"We
[got] ourselves on to the roof. We were there for about half an
hour in freezing cold rain until the helicopter came along and picked
us up, one by one.
"There
were 60ft trees just going down the river like matchsticks - as
soon as one of those hit the front of the visitors centre, it just
wiped away all the structure of it."
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| Flash
floods devastate the village |
Hotel
owner Ruth Watson said it was a "horrendous night".
She
told the 大象传媒 that she had to "dig out guttering with our hands,
spades, anything we could find to remove all the rubble and let
the water run down the gullies".
"It
has really been quite devastating."
Her
first thought when she saw the flood was concern about the lower
part of the village.
"It
must have been horrendous down there. There were boulders running
down the road, trees, just everything, half of people's gardens
were stuck under the gullies, the doorsteps.
"It's
been a horrendous night."
"We
were all on holiday in Cornwall and spending the day in Boscastle,"
says Mark Williams from South Yorkshire.
"We
had to abandon our car and leave on foot. The rain was the worst
any of us had ever seen. People were clinging onto everything they
could as a river ran down the main street. Absolutely shocking."
Praise
Deputy
Prime Minister John Prescott visited the area to offer his support,
praising the emergency services as "absolutely superb"
.
"You
can only admire the sheer professionalism of our service, which
is a great comfort when we are in these difficulties, whether it's
a train crash or a flood like this," he said after seeing people
affected by the incident in north Cornwall.
Mr
Prescott, speaking in nearby Camelford, said he had been "amazed"
by the scale of the flash floods.
"You
saw those cars being pushed by the force of the water down the street,
that was quite unbelievable," he added.
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to
read more about Flash Floods like the one that happened in
Boscastle on Monday 16th August .
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to
remember the devastation in Lynmouth North Devon on 16th August
1952.
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for the latest news from 大象传媒 Cornwall.
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