Floods: A response from James Fearon, Mayor of Hebden Royd Town Council

In our greatest need, both the towns of Hebden  Bridge and Mytholmroyd  were not to be  let down. The magnificent response of our community,  in the way in which everyone rallied around with great humility. Courageously people got on with the job of starting to restore the area from the severe damage caused by the flooding.

Floods aftermath

The most popular phrase I heard, was people coming along to scenes of devastation quietly saying  "Can I help?"

Floods aftermath

Those who rescued people, sometimes at the risk of their own safety, can only restore our belief in people. The support from various outside communities, travelling considerable distances throughout the country to help out people in distress was both touching and heart-warming. I am sure it gave people a new confidence in the multicultural nature of our society.

Floods aftermath

As we have all had time to reflect on the Boxing Day Floods and we begin see a bigger picture, it is very important to sustain a positive solution focused approach in order to rebuild the stability of our communities. And out of which we all can develop a directional plan which secures the infra structure of towns. The fact is we are all going to have to confront the problem of climate change and the effect it has our community's economy and adapt accordingly.  This will require us to identify what is needed, develop a solution based approach.  It will be essential that we work on this in a collaborative way.

Floods aftermath

Added: Tuesday, 19 January 2016