Northampton neighbourhood devastated by flooding ‘frightened’ of more and left feeling like they’re ‘all on their own’
A Northampton neighbourhood, which was recently devastated by flooding, is calling for more help as they are “frightened” of the possibility of more.
Jo Fletcher, who lives by the brook, which runs through Dallington village, has spoken out about the flooding from earlier this week and the catastrophic impact it left on so many people in the community.
The 43-year-old’s home was flooded at the start of the week, which has left considerable damage. Jo says she thinks her and her family will have to move out while the whole of the downstairs is ripped out and re-done. Jo’s is one of four immediate neighbours in a similar position, and further properties in the area are also facing significant clean-up operations.
The concerned resident is now calling for more help from the authorities. She believes part of the reason the area was so badly flooded is because of “inadequate drain maintenance”. Jo would also like to see an emergency plan put in place, including a “coordinated response to support the community”.
She said: “Heavy rain on Sunday meant drains were lifting up around the village, so water was coming out of the drains.
“By 6pm Monday, the part of the village by Dallington Road and Dallington Green was flooded on the roads. Water from the roads was also flowing into the brook, which was about to breach.
“My husband and neighbour were pulling debris out of the brook to keep the water flowing.”
Jo says there are a number of older, vulnerable people living in cottages close to the brook, who she feared may get trapped in their properties. She also believes there was an elderly gentleman who did get stuck in his home.
She believes only around three homes were evacuated by emergency services and in her courtyard, she says they did not see any authorities at all.
Jo added: “We’re left all on our own. It’s not good enough. It’s frightening.
“All of us have done what we should do to protect our properties, but we can’t be responsible for the drains.
“We need to know that there is a plan in place. We feel like the only protection is for those who live on Billing, the rest of us do not have any plans in place.
“We want a coordinated approach to supporting the community. We do not want to be left in a catastrophic place again.”
Jo went on to praise her neighbours and the community that they have created in their area, ever since the pandemic.
“We have an amazing community here. We always pull together,” Jo continued
“We have a village WhatsApp group so we know where people need help. It was created during Covid, when we pulled together and we have stuck to that since.
“One of our neighbours is away, but we’re in her house pulling out what we can.
“We’re now trying to clear out our houses and we’re working together to try and build flood defences.”
West Northamptonshire Council was contacted for comment regarding the drain concerns raised by Jo. A spokeswoman told this newspaper that they are “unable to respond on specific cases whilst we deal with the live situation”.
The spokeswoman added: “We would encourage anyone who has experienced issues during the recent extreme weather to report it via Fix My Street, providing as much information and evidence as possible so that we can ensure it is thoroughly investigated when we are able to.
“In the event of an emergency where someone is in danger, they should dial 999 or 112. Further information and guidance on flooding and to report it is available on our website.”
Speaking during an official visit to Northampton Washlands on Wednesday (September 25), Ben Thorley from the Environment Agency said the “drainage infrastructure is not designed to take that volume of water in such a short period of time”.
He said: “During this rainfall incident, we saw two months of rain in two days. Over 13cm of rain fell. The challenge with that is a lot of surface water flooding and the ability of that water to get to the river to discharge.
“We saw very high river levels, we saw high amounts of surface water flooding across the county and the challenge is, the drainage infrastructure is not designed to take that volume of water in such a short period of time.
“What we’re doing is working as multi-agency partners... firstly, in terms of our response to those incidents, but also to look at opportunities to try and reduce the frequency of these incidents in the future.”
When asked if the flood gates had been opened quick enough, he said: “Northampton Washlands Reservoir is a flood storage reservoir that allows us to control the amount of water flowing downstream from Northampton and allows us to store the water that is coming through Northampton.
“We had hotspots where the water couldn’t get to the river quickly enough or the river channels were exceeded and there was too much water for the channels. For example, in Dallington, the flood storage reservoir filled to capacity and at that point there was an increased flow going downstream and very sadly properties were affected.”
Unfortunately for those affected by flooding, an amber weather warning for rain is in place from 6pm today until 6am Friday (September 27), with the Met Office warning that more flooding is likely.