The team was contacted by Lancashire Constabulary on Friday 15th November at 14.50 to give us an early warning of the expected period of heavy rain and the potential of flooding in Cumbria and North Lancashire. and also to check on our availability over the period of expected flooding. This call was answered by Deputy Team Leader Chris Greenhalgh who paged the team shortly after to pre-warn everyone and assess how many team members were available.

We were then contacted shortly after, again via SARCALL, by Kev Camplin, Team Leader of Bowland Pennine Mountain Rescue Team who were asking for assistance from our team over the weekend should the problems be as bad as anticipated.

Following heavy rain on most of Saturday, Chris remained in contact with Lancashire Constabulary, NWAS and North West Fire Control to remain informed of the developing situation and keep them updated with the resources we have available. Chris also liaised with the Team Leaders of Oldham, Rossendale & Pendle and again with Bowland Pennine MRT’s to discuss mutual assistance if required.

Our team remained on home standby through Saturday evening and overnight into Sunday morning.

Thankfully, although there were some flood-related problems within Lancashire and Cumbria, the rainfall was not as heavy as had been predicted. There were no calls on our team’s services and after a last check with the emergency services by Chris, we stood down on Sunday morning at 10.30.