A lady who has been stranded in her flooded home for 13 days was rescued by a boat crew from Burnham-On-Sea on Sunday (January 5th).
BARB Search & Rescue’s inshore rescue boat was in North Curry, near Taunton, carrying out flood relief training on Sunday morning when its crew checked on the welfare of several residents.
Homeowner Anne-Marie Simpson asked to be evacuated from her isolated property with her dog, Elvis, a Yorkshire terrier, due to the rising flood waters.
BARB’s crew fitted her with a lifejacket and survival suit before helping her onto the boat. She was then safely taken half a mile across the flooded fields to dry land and she will be staying with friends.
She said: “I am very grateful to the crew for rescuing us. I had been in the house for 13 days and was keen to get away. The scale of the flooding has taken us by surprise.”
She had decided to move upstairs in her flooded home with a stockpile of food and ‘wait it out’ rather than evacuating earlier.
BARB is one of several organisations in the region helping with flood relief work as part of the Somerset Civil Contingencies Unit.
BARB Operations Manager Mike Lowe said: “We were very happy to help this lady and her dog, who had been stuck since before Christmas. It was so gratifying to see the look of relief on Anne-Marie’s face when we got her back onto dry land.”
The BARB crew reaching the flooded property on Sunday morning
The lady being helped through a window to the waiting rescue boat
BARB crewman Andy Croker with Elvis the terrier who was also rescued
Fields around North Curry have been flooded by several weeks of rain
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Official BARB Web site
