Today is the fifth anniversary of Storm Desmond, which wreaked havoc across the county. In just 48 hours, there was 1.15 trillion litres of rain fell in Cumbria. Nearly 800 bridges and 300km of roads were significantly damaged or destroyed. It affected thousands of people and businesses. The community effort to restore the county to normality was immense, with local communities, residents, businesses, volunteers, organisations, the emergency services and councils pulling together to help. Edenhall 2015 A686 near Langwathby Pooley Bridge pier 2015 A6 near Plumpton 2015 Pooley Bridge 2015 Keswick from Latrigg 2015 Glenridding 2015 Glenridding 2015 Brougham 2015 Eden Bridge, Lazonby Eamont Bridge 2015 Eamont Bridge 2015 Appleby 2015 Appleby 2015 Appleby 2015 Loading up skips are (left to right) Tracy Clifford, Zoe Witterick, mayoress Ann Potts, mayor Hughie Potts and Robert Williams. A resident of Appleby is rescue by firefighters. appleby bowling club People watch the floodwater running through Appleby. Firefighters Tony Haworth, Kate Farrance and Jason Deakin look for stranded residents in Appleby. Businesses under water on The Sands in Appleby. Villagers from Eamont Bridge and the surrounding area rally round to clear up the mess left behind by the weekend's flood which residents said was worse than the one in 2009 The river engulfs houses in Skirsgill Lane, Eamont Bridge. The bridge over the River Eamont on Monday morning when water levels were still almost as high as the riverbank. There are concerns over the bridge’s stability. Tanya Tinkler, of Eamont Bridge, who helped co-ordinate donations of food and clothing in the village hall for flood victims. Pooley Bridge, minus bridge Glenridding residents are helped to safety as flooding struck for the second time Greg Clark is shown donations from the public by Jackie Kirkpatrick, president of Appleby Chamber of Trade. On the eve of the anniversary, Cumbria County Council paid tribute to everyone who helped and highlighted the end of a four-year £120 million infrastructure recovery project, which it led. The project included repairs, replacement or restoration of more than 1,200 individual projects, from road patching repairs to full reconstruction of highways, slopes, retaining walls, culverts and bridges. It culminated recently with the reopening of Pooley Bridge in October, representing a significant milestone in the county’s recovery, and the installation of the UK’s first stainless steel road bridge. The majority of contracts for the work were awarded to local firms across the county, including Eric Wright Construction, Story Contracting, Metcalfe Plant Hire, Thomas Armstrong and Mott Macdonald. Councillor Keith Little, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “The work our teams have done, side by side with local contractors, has been incredible. "It’s not just the scale and quality of what’s been achieved on the ground that’s so impressive, but the work behind the scenes to project manage such a large number of schemes, across a wide area and involving numerous local communities has required real skill and dedication. “It’s particularly pleasing that local Cumbrian contractors secured the vast majority of contracts to carry out works, keeping money and jobs local and ensuring that Cumbrian people have been the driving force behind the county’s recovery. “I’d also like to thank the public for their patience – delays and disruption have been unavoidable with so many roads and bridges to repair or rebuild, and we know that causes frustration. “The strength, passion, and resilience of our local communities across Cumbria has been vital to meeting the challenge of repairing our beautiful county – and making it more resilient to future weather events.”