Flood threat

Press, 23 February 1978, Page 8

Flood threat

NZPA-Reuter Exeter South-west England is threatened with serious flooding as the heavy blanket of snow and ice covering the area begins to thaw'. But despite a slight rise in temperatures, thick snow still covered most of the counties of Somerset, Dorset, Devon, and Cornwall. The Sports Minister (Mr Denis Howell), made responsible for supervising operations and popularly dubbed ‘■.Minister for Snow,” warned motorists not to enter the area.

Villages are isolated and three men were found on Tuesday weak from cold and hunger after being buried in their car for nearly two days.

Rivers are rising and a Devon Water Authority spokesman said “we are already preparing for serious flooding if the thaw is fast.”

The Press Association reported that police and emerg e n c y services have launched a massive operation aimed at finding motorists who may still be trapped in their cars in the aftermath of the West Country’s worst blizzards in living memory. With some main roads now open and temperatures higher this has been the best chance so far for rescuers to embark on a thorough search of more isolated areas. As rescue and relief work went on a 67-year-old man | was found dead in a snowdrift near Midsomer Norton, [Somerset. Some villages and hamlets on high ground on Dartmoor. Exmoor, and Bodmin Moore and . other parts of north Devon and north Somerset remained cut off for the seventh successive day.