The flood in Cockermouth, 19th-20th November 2009 :
On thursday 19th November, the rivers Cocker and Derwent, which join in Cockermouth, rose to a level that flooded much of central Cockermouth, leaving huge amounts of destruction, and most of the shops, restaurants and pubs in the town completely wrecked.
At midday the river was high, but the Main Street was dry. By three pm – the water was a foot deep in the Main Street. By midnight a raging torrent was flowing down the Main Street and some of the side streets, including South St and Challoner St – about 5 feet deep, and up to 8 feet deep in places.
The pictures below give a brief idea of the mess the town was left in after this evening of excessive rain.
It took a year before most of the businesses were back up and open. Flood defence work is still ongoing (March 2013) but this is not causing disruption to the town itself. The silver lining to the floods is that the affected area has now been repaired to be even prettier than before with many of the affected businesses having their Georgian shop fronts restored.
Related Links :
- Cockermouth Mountain Rescue Team – who did so much to help in the floods
- Youtube – Aftermath – Cumbrian Floods 2009 – a film by Jamie Robertson
- Youtube – BBC News – Sat 21st November – live from Cockermouth
- Youtube – the River Cocker floods the Riverside car park
- BBC Cumbria – flood pictures
- Workington flood pictures
Map – Ordnance Survey – NY 122308
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