Air crew assists flood rescue
AIR crews from Suffolk were drafted in to help with the evacuation of people in Gloucestershire after heavy flooding.A helicopter from RAF Wattisham was despatched to the south west county to co-ordinate other choppers being used to lift people to safety from rooftops.
AN air crew from Suffolk was drafted in to help with the evacuation of people in Gloucestershire after heavy flooding.
A helicopter from RAF Wattisham was despatched to the south west county to co-ordinate other choppers being used to lift people to safety from rooftops.
Hundreds of people spent last night in emergency shelters and temporary accommodation in Gloucestershire after their homes were flooded.
The towns of Tewkesbury and Evesham were particularly badly hit.
Tewkesbury was cut off after rainwater swamped the town's main road town and 30 people were left trapped in a hotel in Evesham.
Senior aircraftsman James Tyrell, based at RAF Wattisham, said a single crew from the base was called to Gloucestershire at around 1.30am Saturday morning.
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The crew hovered at the scene of the floods to co-ordinate police and coastguard helicopters in their rescue attempts.
He said: “Our job was to be the on scene commander, linking the teams on the ground with the helicopters in the air and essentially monitor what was going on.”
