Army assesses task on flood-hit Somerset Levels

Military planners are carrying out a recce on the Somerset Levels, the Ministry of Defence has said, after the government ordered the army to help flood-stricken residents and businesses.

Experts are spending the morning surveying the Levels and working out how they can help the emergency services, local authorities and other agencies. Once that assessment is complete they will sit down with county council chiefs and draw up a plan.

The government has said marines and soldiers may help to deliver food and supplies, ferry around stranded villagers, and lay out more sandbags in preparation for the weekend, when more rain and a high tide could cause more flooding.

The MoD said Royal Marines and soldiers were on the ground in Somerset. Many of the personnel involved are members of 40 Commando, which is based in nearby Taunton. Engineers from 24 Commando, based in Devon, have also been sent to the Levels.

"We are on reconnaissance," said one marine in Northmoor Green, near Bridgwater. "We are working in support of Somerset county council, just supporting their plan, assessing with expert advice. We are looking at the key areas under threat, looking at what we might be able to do to assist the local authorities."

Residents also reported personnel near Northmoor pumping station, on the banks of the river Parrett.

Two army commando engineers were seen surveying the Levels from the top of Burrow Mump, an earthwork that has been used as a military base since around the ninth century. They then drove to the edge of the floodwater surrounding the cut-off village of Muchelney before heading back to report to senior officers.

Efforts are being made to pump water from land bordering the river Parrett in Burrowbridge. Fire crews from as far afield as south Wales are helping there.

There was relief among residents that the army was on the ground, but also anger that it had taken so long for the government to take notice.

"We're grateful that something is being done," said Bryony Sadler, a hairdresser and mother who has endured weeks of flooding. "I'm thankful someone seems to be listening at last. But it's been such a long time coming. It's been total mismanagement so far."

Retired major Mark Corthine, whose farmhouse was flooded for four months last year and who is facing months of disruption again this winter and spring after his home was inundated with sewage-infected water, said he was pleased. "But in reality it's come two weeks too late," he said. "I'm sorry it's taken a disaster for the Environment Agency and the government to take notice of what is happening here."

Corthine said soldiers could help to hand out more sandbags, and amphibious vehicles could help communities that remain partially cut off. He said he feared for what could happen at the weekend as more rain sweeps into the west of England and coincides with high tides. "I'm worried that water could come pouring in and more homes be flooded," he said.

Local political leaders have been calling for help for weeks. David Hall, deputy leader of the Conservative-controlled Somerset county council, said he was pleased that the army might be able to alleviate pressure on local authority workers and the emergency services, who have taken the lead in operations such as ferrying stranded villagers in and out of their communities.

Hall said it was also comforting to know that the army and its equipment would be close at hand if there was more flooding at the weekend.

On Wednesday the environment secretary, Owen Paterson, said: "The Ministry of Defence and the Department for Local Government are discussing how we could deploy specialist vehicles which could help some of those villages which have been cut off, to help people travel backwards and forwards, to get fuel and food in and out, and to help with transport from dry land. And secondly, there will also be help with sandbags which could help prevent further flooding."

Paterson was met with hostility when he visited Somerset on Monday, with farmers, politicians and church leaders demanding immediate action to alleviate what furious residents described as "third world" conditions.

On Wednesday David Cameron pledged that dredging of rivers would start as soon as the waters receded to a safe level. It is not yet clear where the £4m necessary to restart the dredging is coming from, as the government has not offered any extra funds to Somerset. A Defra spokeswoman said the funding had not yet been worked out.

"Dredging will be carried out in the Somerset Levels as soon as it is safe and practical to do so," the spokeswoman said. "We are in discussions with the Environment Agency to start planning the details. We are also working with the local community to produce an action plan looking at all the different options for managing flood risk there over the next 20 years."

Many parts of the Levels have been flooded since Christmas and there are fears it could be many months before the water is pumped away. Environment Agency teams have been running dozens of pumps 24 hours a day to drain an estimated 1.5 million tonnes of water – equivalent to 600 Olympic-sized swimming pools – off the Levels.

Most local people blame the national policy of not dredging rivers for the problems, arguing that because the Levels are a unique artificial environment they need particular management, including dredging. The Environment Agency has continued to insist this week that increased dredging of the rivers would not have prevented the flooding and was "often not the best long-term or economic solution".

The Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings for significant rain on Friday and Saturday. Chris Burton, a forecaster with the weather company MeteoGroup, said up to 25mm (1in) could fall across the Somerset Levels on Friday, with strong winds of up to 60mph.