Flooding: Military Ride To Rescue In Somerset

Military planners have swung into action as part of a ramped up relief effort to help areas hit by severe flooding.

Service personnel on the ground told Sky News that they were assessing the situation, and seeing what practical help they can give to residents cut off by flooding in Somerset.

The Government's emergency Cobra committee is to meet again later.

It comes as more heavy rain and high winds are forecast into the weekend, raising concerns of further flooding.

Troops accompany a local authority official to survey flood-hit areas

Speaking about the military operation in Somerset, Major Al Robinson of the Royal Engineers told Sky News: "We are currently on reconnaissance, working in support of Somerset County Council.

"We are looking at the key areas under threat, and specifically at routes in and out the area, particularly at what we might be able to do in terms of assisting the local authority, particularly in the removal of waste and rubbish, and support current planning."

A local authority official accompanying the troops, said: "It's a general reconnaissance, showing them the flooding situation."

The Ministry of Defence has tweeted that personnel involved in helping with Somerset floods are drawn from all three services, with the majority from Taunton-based 40 Commando Royal Marines.

In addition to vehicle crews, up to 100 military personnel are on stand-by for duties likely to include sandbag filling and loading.

The Red Cross has also sent the 7.5-tonne Unimog, an emergency supply vehicle capable of driving through deep floodwater, which has also been used to help people stranded on the Somerset Levels after nearly a month of flooding.

On Wednesday, Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said specialist Army vehicles could be drafted in to help tackle the flooding, delivering food and sandbags and transporting people.

Parts of the Somerset Levels have been flooded since Christmas

His intervention came after David Cameron said rapid action is needed to deal with floodwaters in the Somerset Levels and promised the dredging of rivers would begin as soon as water levels were reduced to a safe level.

The Government said the first time Somerset County Council had requested assistance was on Wednesday, but the deputy leader of the authority David Hall told Sky News they had been asking for help "for weeks".

Welcoming the deployment of troops, he said: "We will have more support for the things we are already doing, supplying the essential services and support for people who have really in some cases been cut off and marooned for very many days and weeks.

The British Red Cross has sent a Unimog supply vehicle to the affected area

"We will have more capacity to help us with that."

They would also provide the flexibility to "react very quickly" if weather conditions worsened.

Sky's weather presenter Isobel Lang said Somerset is particularly at risk of further flooding given the low-lying nature of the Somerset Levels and Moors, and that the forecast rain will probably be heaviest in the west.

The arrival of the military came as farmers, politicians and church leaders demanded immediate action to alleviate what furious residents describe as "Third World" conditions.

Microbiologist Nathaniel Storey, who took samples from the flood water, said it was "absolutely teeming with bacteria and viruses."

Sky's Kay Burley tweeted this picture of the road to Muchelney in Somerset

He said it posed a risk to health and advised parents to take particular care with young children, whose toys may become contaminated.

Many parts of the Levels have been flooded since Christmas and there are fears it could be months before the water is completely pumped away.

Teams from the Environment Agency (EA) have been running dozens of pumps around the clock to drain away an estimated 1.5 million tonnes of water - the equivalent of 600 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Drainage experts blame two decades of under-investment in flood defence work for turning the Levels into a "disaster area" and said it was "very, very urgent" that rivers are dredged to prevent more damage to homes, livelihoods and wildlife.

Flood warnings in place across the UK

Despite coming under fire from MPs and local councils, the EA insists that increased dredging of the rivers would not have prevented the recent flooding and was "often not the best long-term or economic solution".

But Bryony Sadler of the Flooding on the Levels Action Group argued it would have made a "massive difference", and said there would be no let up in the demand for action.

She said: "The land is just flooded beyond belief."

Flood victims had become so desperate that Somerset County Council leader John Osman said the authority had been prepared to place its own order for amphibious vehicles out of public funds.

He added that some residents were being forced to pay insurance excesses of up to £35,000 in some of the worst-hit areas.

The Environment Agency has issued 35 flood warnings - where flooding is expected and immediate action required - mostly in the Southwest and Midlands. Another 158 flood alerts are also in place.

Labour's shadow environment secretary Maria Eagle said: "Almost a week after Somerset County Council declared the flooding a major incident, the Government has finally decided to respond."

She accused Mr Paterson of "dithering" and failing to take flooding seriously.

:: Watch Sky News for special coverage from Somerset, live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.

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