When the River Aire rose: The Boxing Day flood that rewrote Leeds’ emergency response
Ten years on from the Boxing Day floods that left Leeds reeling, the memory of submerged streets and damaged businesses remains vivid.
The deluge battered 3,355 properties in the city, including 672 businesses, and the River Aire rose to nearly three times its usual height, prompting a red flood warning for “significant impacts to infrastructure and risk to life.”
Emergency crews worked tirelessly as floodwaters moved through the city.
Dave Walton, West Yorkshire Deputy Chief Fire Officer, recalled: “It started in the Calder Valley, but it went into Leeds, so it was just a developing story all day.
“We had crews in boats in what I refer to as the shallow end and then got progressively deeper and they were then able to go in boats down the valley into the areas most affected by the flood water.”
Coordinating that response was crucial.
West Yorkshire Police Chief Inspector May Preston said: “The key challenges were around timely and accurate information.
“Understanding the risk around certain people as well. Extracting people who were in wheelchairs.
“We set up a specialist operations room. All the different agencies could dial in and we had a single hub commander collating information to make sure we were on top of that risk.”
The Army was drawn in early as the scale of the flooding became clear.
An Army spokesperson said the military had been in contact with civil authorities for several days before the storm hit.
He said: “We were engaged with the civil authorities through daily teleconferences in the days leading up to Boxing Day, at which point the Met Office briefed us on the worsening forecast for rain.
“We were made aware of the initial impact of the flooding in West Yorkshire early on Boxing Day and the Environment Agency submitted the first request for military support that day. We deployed a liaison officer to the Strategic Co-ordinating Group at the police HQ in Wakefield.”
Around 500 soldiers were eventually deployed across West and North Yorkshire from the UK Standby Battalion, supported by troops from the Light Dragoons based at Catterick.
The floods prompted lasting changes in Leeds.
Mr Walton said the fire service invested in better equipment and training.
He said: “We decided actually we’re quite good at this but we need to be even better.
"Our fire authority approved another half a million pounds of capital funding for better boats, better equipment, more training for our crews.”
Chief Insp Preston added that police coordination is now more agile and urged residents to stay prepared.
She said: “Join local social media flood alert groups. Keep valuables high up. Know where your gas and electricity can be turned off. Have a kit bag ready at a moment’s notice.”