Ashburton team members in action in the York floods. Photo: Dartmoor Search and Rescue Ashburton
A rescue team has spoken of the warm welcome its members received after helping the people of York during the recent floods.
Dartmoor Search and Rescue Ashburton volunteers travelled more than 300 miles to help in the operation to ensure the safety of residents after some of the worst inundations to hit the city in living memory.
A spokesperson for the Dartmoor team said Dartmoor Search and Rescue Ashburton volunteers alongside those from North Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team, Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team – Tavistock, Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team – Plymouth and Exmoor Search & Rescue Team have been stood down, debriefed and have returned to Devon.
Dave Underhill, an Ashburton team search manager deployed to York said: “We have been given such a warm welcome by the people of York and we have been deeply touched by their generosity towards us.
“We hope that our deployment has been of help to the local community and that we have made a positive difference to them, helping them to get through the awful flooding they have endured. We thank them and wish them well with the task of getting their homes and business’ back to normal over the coming months.
“We’d also like to thank all of you for the hundreds of messages of support that the team has received over the last few days on Facebook and Twitter. We really appreciate it.
“Our volunteers returned to Devon and their families at 3.30 this morning with kit packed away already for the next callout and wet kit hanging in the drying room.
“They couldn’t do what they do without the support of their families and we would like to thank them for being the rock behind our members. They put up with the disruption to family life and rarely get the public recognition they deserve. A very big thank you to them all.”
Mountain Rescue teams across the country were deployed to the floods in Cumbria, Lancashire and Yorkshire over the past week.
An Ashburton team spokesperson said: “They are all volunteers who use their own equipment and give their time free of charge because they want to help. We are proud to be part of such a wonderful group of men and women.”
