Although the floods in Cumbria caused by Storm Desmond in 2015 may seem like a long time ago, for many in the area work is still being undertaken to repair the damage caused by the extreme weather.
Now Cumbria County Council has revealed the full amount spent so far repairing storm damage to the county’s roads and bridges.
The Westmorland Gazette revealed that thus far £70 million has been spent fixing roads and bridges in the region, although the final total is expected to top £120 million.
Storm Desmond left 18,000 homes without power when it struck in 2015, flooding 7,465 properties in Cumbria. It also caused significant damage to a number of the county’s highways, including the A591, which runs through the heart of the Lake District.
Following the storm, approximately 1,200 bridges, roads and other locations were identified as requiring repairs, the newspaper revealed. This included 784 damaged or destroyed bridges.
Councillor Keith Little, cabinet member for highways, transport and fleet, told the news provider that there is still work to be done.
“Two years on we’re still in the thick of dealing with the impact of Storm Desmond, and we will be for at least another year,” he asserted.
To date, 278 bridges have been rebuilt or repaired, 264 are currently undergoing repairs, and 242 repair projects are scheduled to start but have yet to begin.
Bridges in the Lake District are something of a tourist attraction in their own right, with Visit Cumbria promoting the vast collection of stone packhorse bridges found in the county, describing it as “the finest collection” of such crossings anywhere in the world.
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