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COCKERMOUTH, England : Britain's flood-hit northwest braced Saturday for more devastation after river levels rose again and forecasters warned of more rain following unprecedented torrential deluges.
Scenes of devastation greeted Prime Minister Gordon Brown on a visit to the badly affected town of Cockermouth, with houses filled with muddy water, silt and sludge carpeting the roads and personal belongings floating away.
The floods forced hundreds of people out of their homes and left a policeman dead after the bridge on which he was standing was swept away.
Some 314 millimetres (12.3 inches) of rain fell in 24 hours -- the highest level since records began -- over the county of Cumbria as torrential rains swept across Britain and Ireland this week.
Meteorologist Paul Mott said more rain was expected on Sunday and in subsequent days, adding: "Some will be quite heavy and there will be more prolonged showers on Tuesday.
"But it's not going to be nearly as heavy as Thursday -- it's just going to be a very slow recovery."
The Environment Agency said river levels were rising again slowly and the emergency services once again urged people not to go back to their homes.
An estimated 1,300 homes have been affected by flooding across the region, 1,000 left without power, and hundreds of people displaced. Almost 70 people remained in temporary accommodation late Saturday.
Brown, who pledged an extra one million pounds (1.65 million dollars, 1.1 million euros) to help flood-hit communities, met people unable to return home at a reception centre set up at a hotel in Cockermouth. The town is on the edge of the scenic Lake District.
"This is the second time I have been flooded out, in 2005 I was out for six months. This time its hopeless. I don't know when I will get back home," said 88-year-old Doris Studholme.
"I've lost everything again. Last time they had to carry me out, this time they came quickly and got us out before the flood."
Four bridges collapsed in the area, including in the coastal town of Workington which was swept away on the raging waters of the river Derwent.
Policeman Bill Barker, who was due to celebrate his 45th birthday on Saturday, was directing motorists away from the bridge when it collapsed on Thursday. His body was recovered on a beach downstream.
Tony Cunningham, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Workington, at the time expressed his astonishment that a stone bridge could be washed away, describing the flood as "of biblical proportions."
Brown said Barker was "heroic" and praised the "superb response" of all the emergency services, who on Friday staged dramatic rescues in Cockermouth including airlifting people to safety from the roofs of their homes.
Rescue boats were used to negotiate the streets of this market town on the edge of the Lake District national park, which turned into canals after the Derwent and Cocker rivers burst their banks.
Heavy rain was also seen in neighbouring Ireland, causing floods that Environment Minister John Gormley said were "a once in 800 years event."
Rivers burst their banks, coastal towns were threatened by sea flooding and state broadcaster RTE reported that 18,000 households were left without water in Cork, Ireland's second city, following damage to the main pumping station.
Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen chaired a meeting of the national emergency coordination committee, and said the main concern was to help people evacuated from their homes and to maintain water supplies.
Troops were drafted in to assist emergency services in the worst hit areas, as forecasters warned of more rain to come.
- AFP /ls
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