British authorities yesterday announced the deployment of around 900 soldiers to help evacuate hundreds of people trapped by floods in the northern regions of England.

Cities in the north of Britain experienced high rates of flooding which the Prime Minsiter David Cameron described as “unprecedented”. The heavy rains that have lasted for more than a week caused thousands of homes to be affected and the flooding of rivers in the cities of Manchester and Leeds.

The government’s emergency committee known as “Cobra” convened an urgent meeting chaired by Cameron yesterday to discuss necessary measures to deal with the crisis which caused chaos during the Christmas holidays. Cameron said after the meeting that the “river levels and the heavy rains have had unprecedented effects”, stressing that the government will make every effort to help those affected. It is likely that Cameron will visit the affected areas today.

While it is expected that other areas in the north of England, Scotland and Wales will experience high levels of flooding, the British government deployed 500 extra soldiers to Lancashire and Yorkshire to help thousands of victims, and 400 others undertook rescue and evacuation operations in the flooded area. In the city of York, the police advised around 400 people to leave their houses and move their belongings to the upper floors if they were close to rivers. At the same time, hundreds were evacuated in Lancashire and Yorkshire in the north east of the country. 7000 homes were left without electricity in the Lancashire and the Greater Manchester area due to flooding.

The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Elizabeth Truss who announced a review of flood defences earlier this month said that “the priority will remain the protection of lives, homes and businesses”.

Earlier this month, Storm Desmond struck areas in Scotland and northern England and led to huge losses and a disruption of life in those areas. The authorities have launched hundreds of flood warnings all over the country and advised that 31 of these warnings are severe and threaten the lives of residents.