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Weather to ease after three dead Thousands displaced by flooding
(about 3 hours later)
Weather conditions are set to ease after three people died in severe flooding across England and Wales. Three people have died and thousands forced from their homes after severe flooding hit England and Wales.
Three RAF helicopters were used to help rescue people from buildings in the Brightside area of Sheffield. About 900 people are using emergency shelters in Sheffield, and dozens more were evacuated across Lincolnshire, Shropshire and Nottinghamshire.
A 68-year-old man and a teenage boy died in separate incidents in Sheffield and a 28-year-old man was killed after becoming stuck in a drain in Hull. Hundreds have fled their homes in villages near Rotherham, South Yorks, amid fears a nearby dam could collapse.
About 250 people were evacuated amid fears of the imminent collapse of Ulley Dam near Rotherham, South Yorkshire. More than 20 severe flood warnings are still in place, but forecasters say the worst of the weather has passed.
Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council spokesman Tracey Holmes said: "We've identified this and we've got professional engineering support to come and look at this and the risk is imminent." 'Phenomenal' conditions
Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed his sympathy to the families of the dead and those displaced by what he described as an "extraordinary and very serious event".
Evacuation over dam fearEvacuation over dam fear
The council advised residents to leave their houses and they were taken to a temporary evacuation centre at Dinnington Comprehensive School. He confirmed that Environment Secretary David Miliband will make a statement to the House of Commons on the floods later.
Efforts are being made to put significant quantities of stone in to reinforce the 14-metre-high wall of the 35-acre reservoir. "The immediate thing is to make sure we get the right co-ordination with the emergency services... and that we try to make sure we prevent any further loss of life," he said.
People have been evacuated from the nearby areas of Whiston, Canklow, and Catcliffe and Treeton. The Environment Agency labelled current weather conditions were "phenomenal".
Officials in Sheffield say they hope their city is over the worst of the weather. The agency's flood expert, Phil Rothwell, said: "We've had a sixth of the annual rainfall in 12 hours.
Sir Bob Kerslake, chief executive of Sheffield council, said: "I know there's a massive job of recovery to be undertaken. "Climate change experts tell us that this is the sort of thing we need to expect for the future."
"We are beginning to wind down the centres that we ran overnight, and people are making their way home." Economic chiefs are warning that the floods will cost the country millions, and insurers are expecting tens of millions in claims from homeowners.
Unsettled outlook Dam fears
BBC weather forecaster Philip Avery said: "Tuesday will be much quieter. There will be a few showers around but most of them will be light. About 20 houses have been evacuated in Ludlow, Shropshire, after the main bridge into the town collapsed, bursting a gas main.
Residents are said to be taking shelter at a local leisure centre.
People were rescued by helicopter in Sheffield's Brightside areaPeople were rescued by helicopter in Sheffield's Brightside area
In Lincolnshire, police said more than 100 homes had been evacuated and many more were without power.
South and East Yorkshire saw some of the heaviest flooding, with thousands of homes left without power and three people dying.
A 68-year-old man was killed after being swept away as he tried to cross a road in central Sheffield.
In a separate incident in the city a 14-year-old boy, named as Ryan Joe Parry, was killed after falling into the River Sheaf at Millhouses.
And 28-year-old Mike Barnett died after becoming trapped in a storm drain in Hull.
He had been trying to help his grandfather clear the flooded drain in the Hessle area.
And hundreds of people have fled their homes in the villages of Whiston, Canklow, and Catcliffe and Treeton, amid fears the Ulley Dam could collapse.
Efforts are being made to reinforce the 14m wall, which dams a 35-acre reservoir.
Police have closed the M1 between junctions 34 to 32 because of the risk the dam poses.
The flooding brought transport chaos across England, with roads being closed and rail services severely disrupted.
BBC weather forecaster Philip Avery said: "Tuesday will be much quieter. There will be a few showers around but most of them will be light.
"Long term the outlook is pretty unsettled going into the weekend but nothing of the order of what we have had.""Long term the outlook is pretty unsettled going into the weekend but nothing of the order of what we have had."
About 35,000 homes in South Yorkshire were without electricity after Neepsend substation was flooded, but National Grid said power had been restored to 22,000 homes.
South Yorkshire Police said they discovered a body in a swollen river in Millhouses Park in Sheffield, a quarter of a mile downstream from where a search was being carried out for a teenage boy.
The 68-year-old died when he was swept away by floodwater after getting out of his car and trying to cross a road in the Wicker area of Sheffield.
Flood warnings
Two four-man specialist river rescue crews and their boats from Hereford and Worcester fire service have been sent to Sheffield to help the South Yorkshire brigade.
Three people were rescued by helicopter from a Sheffield building after they were stranded on the second floor of a Forgemasters factory in Brightside Lane.
The man who died in Hull had become trapped in neck-deep water when he went to help his grandfather clear a flooded drain in the Hessle area.
Evacuations took place involving about 100 people in Lowdham, Nottinghamshire, 60 homes and businesses in Louth, Lincolnshire, 200 residents of Winn Gardens, Sheffield, and 70 houses in the Halton area of Leeds.
The Environment Agency has 23 severe flood warnings and 129 flood warnings in place.