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		</div><p>Residents in Whaley Bridge in the UK are hoping to hear on Wednesday that they can return to their homes after being evacuated last week.</p>
<p>Derbyshire Police Deputy Chief Constable Rachel Swann said she was expecting “good news” from an inspection of the dam following efforts to prevent it collapsing.</p>
<p><em>“We have obviously been pumping the water out and it has gone down at a fast speed,”</em> she said.</p>
<p><em>“It is now beyond 9.5 metres. We will keep draining the water until it is safe to stop.</em></p>
<p><em>“What we need to do is just to check the reservoir is fit for when it rains again and we have got a yellow weather warning.”</em></p>
<p>Hundreds evacuated from Whaley Bridge have been left “increasingly fed-up” as only a small number were able to return to their homes on Tuesday.</p>
<p>More than 1,500 people have been evacuated from the Derbyshire town since Thursday amid heavy rain, although a small number refused to leave their properties.</p>
<p>At a meeting in a school in neighbouring Chapel-en-le-Frith, the remaining residents were told they had to wait until after noon on Wednesday before a decision could be made on whether they could go back.</p>
<p>Derbyshire Police previously said those evacuated from the town must wait until experts decide that Toddbrook Reservoir’s damaged dam is “absolutely safe”.</p>
<p>Despite most people having to wait, representatives of the police and the Environment Agency said the water level had dropped way below the target of eight to 9.5 metres.</p>
<p>Police said a safe water level at the reservoir had been reached after around 17% of the reservoir’s capacity had been pumped out.</p>
<p>Residents were also told engineers would assess the damage to the wall before making a decision on allowing more people to return.</p>
<p>The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning covering much of England, including the Derbyshire town, on Friday and Saturday.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">A yellow severe weather warning for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/rain?src=hash&;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#rain</a> has been issued: <a href="https://t.co/QwDLMfRBfs">https://t.co/QwDLMfRBfs</a>. Stay <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/weatheraware?src=hash&;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#weatheraware</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/metofficeUK?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@metofficeuk</a> <a href="https://t.co/YRSUIetalI">pic.twitter.com/YRSUIetalI</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Met Office (@metoffice) <a href="https://twitter.com/metoffice/status/1158669667818508288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 6, 2019</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>One resident who has returned, John Lomas, said: <em>&#8220;It’s great to be back home. All the services guys have done an excellent job, I’m very proud of them all.”</em></p>
<p>Another returning resident, Melissa Broxup, said the last few days had been “a nightmare. An absolute nightmare”.</p>
<p><em>“I’ve not been able to go anywhere and Whaley is so quiet. Everyone in Whaley has been amazing. It’s not easy.”</em></p>
<p>Asked what it was like to be one of the first to be let back in, she said: <em>“It’s great. I can finally get some sleep. I just can’t wait to get back in my flat.&#8221;</em></p>
<p><em>“I’m happy but on the other side I’m gutted for those who can’t come back.”</em></p>
<p>An RAF Chinook was again drafted in on Tuesday to help the previously dropped bags of aggregate settle into place.</p>
<p>RAF Regional Liaison Officer for the North West, Wing Commander Gary Lane, said: <em>“The work we have done is just finding its feet.</em></p>
<p><em>“When you put a load of aggregate down it needs stamping in, we’ve not been able to flatten that because it has just been dropped.”</em></p>
<p>He said about 100 military personnel had been drafted in to help with the dam.</p>
<p>Addressing what would happen once people are given the green light to return home, Ms Swann said all cordons would be lifted and roads would go back to normal.</p>
<p>In the meantime, she insisted that security measures were still in force in the area after reports of burglaries and prowlers.</p>
<p>Ms Swann said: <em>“We can assure you that security of the area continues. We are using drones regularly to patrol the area.”</em></p>
<p>Members of the public at the meeting were also told the dam would eventually have to be rebuilt.</p>
<p>A spokesman for the Canal and Rivers Trust said: <em>“We are very much in the emergency phase now and we are currently repairing and carrying out construction work.</em></p>
<p><em>“It is a long-term construction project, but we will not have started from scratch. It could take 18 months, two years, three years, who knows?”</em></p>
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