Red Cross to the rescue on one of hottest days of the year
| 28 July 2008
A burst water main left around 15,000 properties in south London without water and electricity yesterday, one of the hottest days of the year.
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| British Red Cross staff and volunteers sprang into action as Merton High Street and the surrounding area became flooded, and homes across a significant area of south London were left without water or power. | | | 190.jpg) | |
| The Red Cross deployed four emergency response vehicles to the area, and staff and volunteers set up a rest centre at the Merton civic centre to provide support to local people.
Merton Borough Council called the Red Cross early Sunday morning and they worked with the council to assess the situation.
Reassurance
Tom Pignon, Red Cross emergency planning officer for London, said: “We were there to provide reassurance to people and to check up on vulnerable people in the area. We had bottled water and hygiene packs so we were able to give those out to people who needed it.
“There were a couple people who asked for help, mostly needing information about when the power and water were going to be back on. Everyone was unsure of what was going on so to have Red Cross emergency response units parked on the high street gave people a place to get information.
“Fortunately our response finished in the early evening but we had people on standby in case it did go on overnight.”
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