Two die in floods tragedy

Two bodies have been found in the cellar of a building in flood-hit Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire.The fire service said the two died after trying to pump flood water out of the town's rugby club.Gloucestershire Police said they were called to Tewkesbury Rugby Club at 7.50am after reports that two people pumping water from the premises could not be contacted.A spokeswoman said police and the fire service entered the building and found two men who were declared dead at the scene.The deaths came after the body of a man in his 40s was pulled out of the River Great Ouse in Bedford on Tuesday.A woman stranded in the floods in Tewkesbury lost her new born baby twins at the weekend despite the best efforts of the RAF to save them.Terry Standing, chief officer for Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue, said his crews were on standby to help people pump out water and added there was no need to take "unnecessary risks"."It is a real tragedy that we have suffered two fatalities in the past 24 hours which were most likely due to people attempting to remove flood water and we would strongly urge everyone involved in this task to ensure they think about safety first."We have a team of crews who can pump out properties so there is no need to take any unnecessary risks."There are also safety issues where people's electricity supply has been affected by flood water, please do not reconnect power supplies until they have been checked out by a professional electrician."The coroner has been informed of the deaths.They came as doctors issued health warnings to people living in flooded areas of the UK and forecasters predicted that more heavy rain was on the way.The elderly, very young and infirm are at risk from potentially lethal bacteria such as E.coli and salmonella in the filthy floodwaters.Floods expert Professor Ian Cluckie said: "People need to realise this is raw sewage they are walking around in."I've seen pictures of kids walking around in the flood water. For God's sake don't let them."Dr Shona Arora, director of public health for Gloucestershire, said sanitation was becoming an "increasing issue".Virus expert Dr Ken Flint of Warwick University said the health implications mean it is vital that the hundreds of thousands of flood victims maintain a strict hygiene regime.The warnings come as homes in Oxfordshire and Berkshire remain at risk as water levels along the River Thames are expected to rise.Some areas could see rain measuring 10mm (0.4ins) to 15mm (0.6ins), forecasters said, with the Environment Agency (EA) saying river levels in the affected areas are generally "steady and high" and could remain this way until Friday.Three of the severe warnings are along the Thames with three on the Severn. An EA spokeswoman said: "It is going to take a long time to go down because there is a lot of water. The water is reaching its high point, then very gradually it is going to go down."Nearly a week after the rain deluge across central and southern England, the EA said six severe flood warnings and 20 flood warnings remain in place as hundreds of people are forced to seek shelter in emergency accommodation.Running water is being restored to 10,000 homes in Gloucestershire but residents have been warned it is not safe to drink.In the towns of Cheltenham, Tewkesbury and Gloucester, residents have been warned that clean water could be unavailable for two weeks.And there is growing anger as many of the 926 bowsers set up by Severn Trent Water have now run dry. It follows the flooding of the Mythe water treatment works which usually provides 120 million litres of clean drinking water a day.Meanwhile, Gloucestershire County Council said it needs more portable toilets for emergency workers and vulnerable people trapped in care and residential homes.© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.

ITN | July 26, 2007

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