FIREFIGHTERS were inundated with a staggering 577 calls for help in as floods swept South Yorkshire a year ago today.
Emergencies were reported across the county, mostly in river valleys and low-lying areas - shown by the red dots on the map.
On a normal June day, firefighters would expect to receive an average of 159 call outs.
The most serious, where lives
were at risk, were attended by crews but there were so many calls some had to be given advice over the phone.
Police and the RAF were also involved in the operation - and even mountain rescue volunteers helped evacuate one old folks' home in Rotherham.
Among the incidents were 71 separate rescues of people who were trapped from places such as Forgemasters steelworks on Brightside Lane, where people were airlifted to safety.
And one single incident - the threatened dam at Ulley reservoir, near Rotherham - kept firefighters and other emergency services busy for several days, who worked day and night to prevent it collapsing.
Three people died after being swept away by raging water - 14-year-old
Ryan Parry in Millhouses Park, Peter Harding, 68, of Burngreave, who had abandoned his car in Newhall, Sheffield, and ex-policeman Gary Priestly, from Clowne, who was trying to get home.
According to Government statistics, 154 households in Doncaster are still in temporary accommodation, 60 in Chesterfield, 56 in Sheffield, seven in Barnsley and four in Rotherham.
While firefighters used boats to reach people and RAF helicopters winched people to safety, two Good Samaritans became heroes when they drove a JCB from work around the streets of Brightside and Attercliffe in Sheffield looking for people in need of help.
Darren Markham and Steven Heywood, both employees of Viridor Waste Management, took to the streets along with two police officers after being sent home from work early.
Five pregnant women and a dog were among the 110 people they saved between 4pm on the day the flooding started and 4am the following day.They carried people from marooned buildings in the bucket of their JCB looking for people hanging out of windows, waving torches and calling for help.
One of those rescued was 50-year-old Karen Scott, who works for W Wright Electrical Ltd and was trapped at work with colleagues and staff from a neighbouring firm.
She was among 11 people trapped in an office block on Princess Street, off Attercliffe Road, after trying to save equipment, supplies and paperwork from the freezing, dirty water which had seeped into their building.
Miss Scott, of Norwood Road, Norwood, said: "We could not believe how quickly the water rose and there was now no way we could leave the office so we had to accept we could be here for the night," she said.
"Cars were floating down Princess Street hitting into each other, car alarms going off - it was really quite frightening. A few people were on foot trying to get down the road and the force of the river was nearly washing them away. Luckily the people from the company across the road were dragging people to safety - I'm sure without their help some people on that road would not have survived.
"We didn't know how long we would be marooned for as we watched the helicopters rescuing people further down Attercliffe.
"We were resigned to the fact we would be spending the night when a JCB was spotted across the road getting people out and a large sheet of paper was held up to the window showing our phone number - and at 10.30pm that evening our rescue was on its way."
What do you think? Add your comment below.Relive the moment the rains came with your photos and videos from the timeDramatic video of woman's bid to cross the flooded WickerVideo footage as despair hits some of the area's worst flood victimsYour flooding pictures: Ulley Dam, Swinton, ChesterfieldMore photos sent in by readers immediately after the floodSee the pumps in action as South Yorkshire struggled to recoverRead more of our coverage from the first anniversary of the floodsOnly Sheffielders could laugh through this - VIDEONever again: South Yorks promised vital work Flooded out, looted twice ... and then came baby CharlieWhere will the planned defence schemes go?Owls winning repair battleCouncil 'sorry' for road repairs delayPrince visit morale boostMain news indexLettersCheck out the very latest on South Yorkshire's roads - including live traffic cameras on Sheffield's commuter routes - with our Traffic sectionLatest sport.The full article contains 767 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
