Carlisle floods hit hotels and restaurants
Hotels and restaurants in Carlisle were today clearing up after the weekend's floods and storms.
Flooding shut most of the city centre over the weekend, causing chaos and cutting off all power supplies.
Sue Hopkin, receptionist at the 84-bedroom County Hotel in the city centre, said that while they had escaped being flooded, the hotel was still without heating and hot water.
"We had no power from Saturday midday to a quarter to six last night. We are hoping that the heating and hot water will be back on later today," she said.
Most guests had now left, although a couple of TV crews had stayed on Saturday night, she added.
"It is just horrendous what is happening. We had high tides on Saturday, which did not help. And there is apparently another bad storm on the way," she added.
Catherine Clarke, assistant manager at the 120-cover Tullie House restaurant in the city centre, said staff were now clearing out the fridges and freezers.
"The heating and power is now back on and we are making soup for everyone. But I know at least one restaurant was flooded," she said.
She expected that her restaurant, like most others in the city, would remain shut until Wednesday.
The storms also led holiday village operator Center Parcs to close its Oasis Whinfell Forest village in Cumbria on Saturday afternoon.
All 700 guests had been offered a free identical break within the next 12 months, it added.
Center Parcs expect the closure to cost it £400,000, although the site is due to re-open today.
by Nic Paton
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