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Firefighters do not have the equipment and powers to tackle severe flooding, service chiefs have said. |
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The Chief Fire Officers' Association (CFOA) said there was "institutional confusion" between many groups and that a single body should be in charge.
The claim comes as the Met Office issued an early severe weather warning for all of England and Wales at the weekend, when heavy rain is forecast.
Hundreds of people are still out of their homes after this week's floods.
'Point of collapse'
The CFOA wants the government to implement recommendations made after the 2004 floods in Boscastle, Cornwall, and put a single body in overall charge when there is major flooding.
Currently, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the police, the Environment Agency, local councils and dozens of smaller bodies all have different powers.
"Because we haven't got standardisation of our equipment and our training it does mean we aren't as effective as we otherwise could be," said CFOA's Paul Hayden.
Fire unions said members had been working to the point of collapse after dealing with the floods virtually non-stop for three days.
A slow-moving area of low pressure will bring more persistent and heavy rain over the weekend, says the Met Office.
Rainfall of 15-25mm (0.6-1in) is expected quite widely across England and Wales but there could be up to 50mm (2in) in some places.
The wettest conditions are expected later on Saturday across eastern England.
Rescue effort
"It's overnight and into tomorrow [Saturday] when we're looking at more rain. On Sunday we're looking at heavy showers which could bring quite a bit of heavy rain with them.
"Some places could see heavy shower after heavy shower but thankfully they should move through pretty quickly.
"The real reason for the early warning is that rivers are already swollen and any extra rain won't help the situation."
This week's floods have been most severe in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and the Midlands, and have claimed the lives of at least four people.
More than 3,000 properties are estimated to have been flooded and fire crews have rescued about 3,500 people.
HRFU Comment
It seems that Fire Chiefs are working very hard to broaden their remit, there is no doubt that the kernel of their message is 'give it to us' and of course, once the government has officially given them flood duties - they can then ask for the budgets to back them up.
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