COCKERMOUTH, England (AP) - Military helicopters winched dozens of people to safety and emergency workers in inflatable boats rescued scores more as floods on Friday swamped northern England's picturesque Lake District. One police officer was missing and feared dead after a bridge was swept away.
British soldiers conducted house-to-house searches for those trapped by floods as deep as 8 feet (2.5 meters). Troops also dropped down on lines from air force helicopters, breaking through rooftops to pluck people to safety.
Emergency rescue workers float past a 'Merry Christmas' sign as they look to rescue residents stranded by floods in Cockermouth, in Cumbria, north-west England, on November 20, 2009. Hundreds of homes were flooded after torrential rain battered parts of northern England, northwest Wales and western Scotland throughout Thursday and Friday, rescue officials said. AFP PHOTO/ANDREW YATES (Photo credit should read ANDREW YATES/AFP/Getty Images)
Villagers walk over a bridge, partly washed away by floodwaters in Kudadarahal village, some 370 Kilometers (230 miles) northwest of Bangalore, India, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009. Flash floods and landslides triggered by four days of torrential rains have killed scores of people in southern India, news reports said Saturday. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
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Fog rises off a lake in Highlands, N.Y., on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)
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Taiwanese girls look out from the back of a military truck leaving their hometown in preparation for the arrival of Typhoon Parma in Baolai, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009, in Kaohsiung County, Taiwan. Taiwan issued a storm warning and began moving people out of villages in the southern county of Kaohsiung. (AP Photo) ** TAIWAN OUT **
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Residents line up to wait military trucks fleeing their mountain village of Baolai in preparation for the arrival of Typhoon Parma, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009, in Kaohsiung County, Taiwan. Taiwan issued a storm warning and began moving people out of villages in the southern county of Kaohsiung. (AP Photo) ** TAIWAN OUT **
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Evacuees line up in floodwaters to receive pack meals and bottled water at San Pedro township, Laguna province, south of Manila, Philippines, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009. Tropical storm Ketsana brought the worst flooding in metropolitan Manila and neighboring provinces in more than 40 years. Tens of thousands of villagers fled the likely path of a powerful typhoon bearing down on the Philippines, as the government braced for the possibility of a second disaster just days after a storm killed hundreds. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
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Sick children-evacuees recuperate in a makeshift hospital as other evacuees line up to receive relief supplies (background) at an evacuation center at San Pedro township, Laguna province, south of Manila, Philippines, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009. Tropical storm Ketsana brought the worst flooding in metropolitan Manila and neighboring provinces in more than 40 years. Tens of thousands of villagers fled the likely path of a powerful typhoon bearing down on the Philippines, as the government braced for the possibility of a second disaster just days after a storm killed hundreds. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
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Sick children-evacuees recuperate in a makeshift hospital as other evacuees line up to receive relief supplies (background) at an evacuation center at San Pedro township, Laguna province, south of Manila, Philippines, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009. Tropical storm Ketsana brought the worst flooding in metropolitan Manila and neighboring provinces in more than 40 years. Tens of thousands of villagers fled the likely path of a powerful typhoon bearing down on the Philippines, as the government braced for the possibility of a second disaster just days after a storm killed hundreds. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
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Evacuees line up in floodwaters to receive pack meals and bottled water at San Pedro township, Laguna province, south of Manila, Philippines, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009. Tropical storm Ketsana brought the worst flooding in metropolitan Manila and neighboring provinces in more than 40 years. Tens of thousands of villagers fled the likely path of a powerful typhoon bearing down on the Philippines, as the government braced for the possibility of a second disaster just days after a storm killed hundreds. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
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Evacuees line up in floodwaters to receive pack meals and bottled water at San Pedro township, Laguna province, south of Manila, Philippines, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009. Tropical storm Ketsana brought the worst flooding in metropolitan Manila and neighboring provinces in more than 40 years. Tens of thousands of villagers fled the likely path of a powerful typhoon bearing down on the Philippines, as the government braced for the possibility of a second disaster just days after a storm killed hundreds. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
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Evacuees receive rice porridge and a cup noodle each from a distribution center at San Pedro township, Laguna province, south of Manila, Philippines, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009. Tropical storm Ketsana brought the worst flooding in metropolitan Manila and neighboring provinces in more than 40 years. Tens of thousands of villagers fled the likely path of a powerful typhoon bearing down on the Philippines, as the government braced for the possibility of a second disaster just days after a storm killed hundreds. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
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Emergency services said more than 200 people were rescued in the hardest-hit town, Cockermouth. At least 960 homes were flooded after a day of unprecedented rain, police in the northern region of Cumbria said.
Heavy rain and gales also brought widespread flooding to Ireland, as more than 3 feet (1 meter) of water shut down the center of the country's second-largest city, Cork, and more than a dozen towns and villages.
Cockermouth, a market town 330 miles (530 kilometers) northwest of London, lies at the junction of the Cocker and Derwent rivers and is known for being the birthplace of poet William Wordsworth.
"It has devastated the town," said Michael Dunn, manager of the Bitter End pub in Cockermouth. "There is a lot of properties in Main Street, private shops, that have had their windows smashed in by the force of the water and by debris in the water.
In this photo taken Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009, a man carries his belongings salvaged from his car trapped under collapsed building caused by heavy snow at a second-hand auto market in Zhengzhou, in central China's Henan province. Heavy snow and blizzards wiped north China, caused several death and hundreds of injuries, State media reported.
In this photo taken Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009, a man carries his belongings salvaged from his car trapped under collapsed building caused by heavy snow at a second-hand auto market in Zhengzhou, in central China's Henan province. Heavy snow and blizzards wiped north China, caused several death and hundreds of injuries, State media reported.
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A man walks along a beach eroded from large waves after Hurricane Ida passed nearby in Cancun, Mexico, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009. Ida has grew into a hurricane Sunday for a second time as it roared over the Caribbean on a path that could take it between Cuba and Mexico's resort-studded Yucatan Peninsula before heading for the southern United States.
AP Photo/Israel Leal
This NOAA satellite image taken Monday, November 09, 2009 at 12:45 AM EST shows Hurricane Ida at about 340 miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. Low pressure in the western Gulf of Mexico kicks up showers and thunderstorms in eastern Texas and southern Louisiana. Meanwhile, a dry low pressure system moves into the Upper Midwest.
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A man watches the waves crash in the resort area of Cancun, Mexico, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009. Ida has grown into a hurricane for a second time as it moves over the Caribbean.
AP Photo/Israel Leal
Rescue workers walk along a flooded street in Verapaz, some 125 km east from San Salvador, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009. According to authorities a massive slides killed at least 91 people throughout El Salvador Sunday and left about five dozen missing.
AP Photo/Edgar Romero
A police officer stands next to the bodies of victims of floodings in Verapaz, some 125 kms east of San Salvador, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009. Rescue crews dug through mud and rock slides Sunday looking for possible survivors from a massive wave of rain-fueled flood damage that authorities said killed 91 people throughout El Salvador and left about five dozen missing.
AP Photo/Edgar Romero
The first of a series of tsunami waves approaches the shore at the Ulimasao Marist Center in Vailoa in Samoa Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009. The photo was taken by Matthew Putt, one of a group of students from Sacred Heart College in Auckland New Zealand, who were on a school trip to Samoa. The series of waves flooded and damaged the center, but no one was injured. A powerful quake in the South Pacific hurled massive tsunami waves at the shores of Samoa and American Samoa, flattening villages and sweeping cars and people back out to sea while leaving scores dead and dozens missing.
AP Photo/New Zealand Herald, Matthew Putt
Tsunami damage outside Apia in Samoa on Wednesday Sept. 30, 2009. A powerful quake in the South Pacific hurled massive tsunami waves at the shores of Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga flattening villages and sweeping cars and people back out to sea while leaving more than 100 dead and dozens missing.
AP Photo/New Zealand Herald, Brett Phibbs
Director Chip McCreery, points at wave activity computer grafts measured at Honolulu Harbor from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center, September 29, 2009 in Ewa Beach, Hawaii on Oahu. An earthquake with a magnitude between 8.0 and 8.3, struck American Samoa today causing tsunami warning to be issued across the Pacific. Tsunami waves tsunami waves swept ashore on Samoa and American Samoa early Tuesday, flattening villages, killing at least 34 people. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center cancelled the tsunami watch on Hawaii today.
AP Photo/Marco Garcia
Floodwaters from tsunami waves are seen at the Ulimasao Marist Center, in Vailoa, in Samoa Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2009. The photo was taken by Matthew Putt, one of a group of students from Sacred Heart College in Auckland New Zealand, who were on a school trip to Samoa and staying in the center. The series of waves flooded and damaged the center, but no one was injured. A powerful quake in the South Pacific hurled massive tsunami waves at the shores of Samoa and American Samoa, flattening villages and sweeping cars and people back out to sea while leaving scores dead and dozens missing.
AP Photo/New Zealand Herald, Matthew Putt
"There were cars floating down the street. It will be a long time before Cockermouth recovers from this."
The rain stopped and floodwaters began to ease Friday, giving rescuers a chance to reach trapped people by boat. Debris swirled around the boats as they pulled people to safety.
Tony Walker of Cockermouth told BBC radio he was on the top floor of his house and the water on the ground floor was chest-high.
"I've had better mornings," Walker said. "I've been here all night and I've run out of water now, so I'm thinking of making a break for it, really. The water is still pretty deep, it's going down, but at this rate it's going to be hours before it's clear."
Forecasters said the rainfall was unprecedented. The Environment Agency recorded 12.3 inches (314.4 millimeter) of rain in 24 hours in one spot — one of the wettest days ever recorded in England.
"It looks like a very historical event," said Julian Mayes, a forecaster with MeteoGroup UK.
Environment Secretary Hilary Benn told the BBC that flood defenses were meant to withstand a one-in-100-years flood — but could not cope with the volume of water.
"What we dealt with last night was probably more like one-in-a-1,000, so even the very best defenses, if you have such quantities of rain in such a short space of time, can be over-topped," Benn said.
Police urged people not to travel, as many roads were impassible. Two bridges collapsed in the town of Workington, including a main one over the River Derwent. Cumbria Police said Constable Bill Barker, 45, was swept into the water as he stood on the bridge. The force said Friday that rescuers searching for him had found a body.
"This is a stone bridge — to wash away a bridge of that size and dimension is incredible," said lawmaker Tony Cunningham.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown that he had spoken to Cumbria Chief Constable Craig Mackey to offer help.
"Our thoughts are with all those who have been impacted by these floods," Brown said.
The Irish army deployed more than 100 soldiers, two dozen trucks and several flat-bottomed boats to evacuate people trapped by waist-deep floodwaters in cars and homes. A helicopter also winched to safety a County Galway family of five, including the 87-year-old grandmother.
The floods caused transport chaos along Ireland's western coast, with many major roads blocked and train services canceled.
The River Suck burst its banks in County Leitrim near the Northern Ireland border, flooding the town of Ballinasloe and cutting off major roads to Ireland's northwest. About 40 families had to be evacuated by boat.
The Irish weather forecasting service, Met Eireann, said parts of southern and western Ireland suffered their most intense and sustained rainfall in 30 years.
Friday was mostly sunny but more rain and gales were forecast for the weekend.
Associated Press Writers Shawn Pogatchnik in Dublin and Jill Lawless, Danica Kirka, Bob Barr and Jennifer Quinn in London contributed to this report.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper holds a case of Yuengling beer presented to him outside his home by U.S. Ambassador David Jacobson. The beer was part of a wager the PM had with President Obama on the outcome of the Olympic gold medal hockey game which Canada won.
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