New hovercraft will help during flood emergencies

10 October 2008

The hovercraft, which is capable of travelling at speed over both land and water, will be based with the British Red Cross’ specialist flood rescue team in Northern Scotland. During emergencies, they will now be able to rescue people trapped in locations that are difficult to reach – such as shallow, fast-moving water, mudflats, sand bars and frozen lochs.

The state of the art craft is the latest piece of equipment brought in to help the Inverness-based team reach vulnerable people in remote locations, often under very difficult conditions.

In emergencies, volunteers can also respond with two specially designed flood rescue boats, a quad bike and ten 4x4 emergency response vehicles.

Trained volunteers

The flood rescue team, which comprises 38 flood relief and rescue volunteers, has trained alongside the coastguard and each volunteer is equipped to save people from fast-flowing rivers, floods and white water.

Ian Rideout, operations director, said: “Because the hovercraft actually ‘flies’ about nine inches above the ground, it is unaffected by the surface we’re travelling over. This means it will be invaluable in reaching people cut off by fast-flowing shallow water – where just eight inches is enough to knock a vehicle over, but not deep enough to launch a boat.”

Flood rescue

He added: “We’ll also use the hovercraft in situations where flood water is clogged with debris and to reach people trapped on ice, snow or mudflats – all situations which would make boat operations unsafe or impossible.”

The Red Cross team is already called upon regularly to help the emergency services in search and rescue operations. With the introduction of the all-terrain hovercraft, it’s likely that the Red Cross team will be working even more closely with the coastguard, police and fire and rescue services in the future.

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