A RYEDALE woman has spoken of her shock and horror at the scenes of devastation as flood waters raged through a Cumbrian village.

Julie Ryan, of Welburn, who has travelled the world with the International Rescue Corps, said the conditions in Cockermouth were some of the most challenging she has experienced.

The NHS manager was one of a team of six from the International Rescue Corps (IRC) that rescued or assisted in rescuing up to 65 stranded people, with fast-flowing waters rising above the ground floor windows of homes.

“We arrived at Cockermouth on Thursday evening and what we found was horrendous – I have never seen anything like it,” she said.

“The water was up to the bedroom windows and very fast flowing so it was churning up all sorts of debris.”

Julie and her colleagues were travelling in a boat searching for people who needed rescuing.

“We spoke to some of the residents at their upstairs windows. They were obviously distressed and upset,” she said.

Julie, a manager at NHS North Yorkshire and York, said the team managed to get a couple in their 60s or 70s into the boat.

But the vessel’s engine was not strong enough to keep the team in one place for long.

“It was extremely challenging and frightening. At one point we were trying to make our way round a corner and the boat was in danger of being swept down the river, but somehow we managed to get out of the main flow.”

Julie said the RNLI, which had a bigger boat with a larger engine, arrived on the scene to assist. “We jumped on board and then started to rescue more people at that point because the engines were much bigger so they could cope with the current. We were rescuing people left, right and centre.” She said a woman who had just been rescued said her mother and father were stuck in a house.

“We eventually got into their garden and had to pull a fence down and stand on a brick wall to talk to them. I put a ladder up against the window and they said they’d got several pets, so we took each animal from the house, a cat and three dogs. Then the wife came out and then the husband.” The 43-year-old, who was working alongside fellow IRC members Ian Waines, of Bridlington, and Ray Gray, of Beverley, said the team worked for 30 hours non-stop before a relief team arrived.

Julie, who has been a member of the IRC for 18 years, returned home at the weekend and said although it was a job she had been trained to do, it had been a challenging experience.

“The people we met were desperately upset and all very shocked by what they had been through, but they were very appreciative and we got lots of hugs – there was a real Dunkirk Spirit.”

Julie is no stranger to rescue missions. She has participated in numerous operations, including the earthquake in Kobe, Japan, in 1995, the London bombings in July 2007 and the floods in Hull. To find out how to make a donation to IRC, visit intrescue.org