Kettering flood victims received warning text two hours after families evacuated

Residents and home owners were already in full evacuation mode as water from the nearby Slade Brook swept into their houses in Stratfield Way on Kettering Venture Park on Monday (November 25).

But hours after neighbours had swung into action to help one another and ensure belongings were safe, many of who had signed up to the flood alert scheme were surprised to receive the official alert text.

Dad-of-three Mark Linnell had braved the flood waters in the dark to carry his children to dry land and was helping his neighbours for several hours as water poured into their homes.

He said: “I was watching the water. At 5am the grass was flooded and it didn’t look too bad. By 5.30am people were banging on the doors.”

Mr Linnell moved his car to prevent water damage but had to go back through the floods to drive his children aged one, three and 11 to safety at his partner’s parent’s house.

Water poured through the airbricks, into the airspace under the foundations and up through into the houses.

His partner phoned the Environment Agency at about 6am to warn them the Slade Brook was flooding houses as well as sending them photos to show the incident.

He then returned to help neighbours, wading through waist-high water – turning off electricity supplies, moving furniture and belongings to the first floor and making sure people were safe.

As the community pulled together, those signed up to the official flood alert had a flood warning appear on their phones – timed at 8.37am.

Another house owner, Scott Edwards, who had been flooded out on Christmas Eve 2020, also contacted the Environment Agency at 7.30am to send out the warning to residents. He received the official warning at 8.37am.

In December 2020, Stratfield Way residents had also been alerted late by the same flood warning system. By the time they had the alert their homes had been engulfed by filthy water.

He said: “I rang the Environment Agency and they said ‘we have no resources’. They directed us to the help page on the website

“Water damage is awful – it’s the fear of flooding. It’s a horrible thing. We were told in 2020 it was a one off.”

Mr Linnell added: “They need to update the whole system – install an early warning buoy or something to show the river level.”

An official flood warning means that flooding is expected so “you should act now”.

The Environment Agency issues a flood warning when forecasts show that flooding is expected from rivers and heavy rain that will cause rivers to flash flood.

Flood warnings are usually issued “30 minutes to 2 hours before flooding”. An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “Heavy rainfall from Storm Bert has caused rivers to rise across the region with upper parts of the catchments in Northamptonshire exceeding previous highs in places, affecting areas such as Kettering Venture Park. We sympathise with all communities affected by the storm. “We issue flood warnings based on factors such as river levels reaching certain trigger points; the rain forecast and ground conditions. We always carry out a review after flood warnings are issued to see if any improvements are needed for the future, to ensure the service is as accurate and timely as possible for people.

"We last implemented changes to improve the flood warning service following the winter flooding of 2020/21. “Environment Agency teams are currently out on the ground, taking action to reduce the impact of flooding. Our Area Incident Room remains open and operational with officers closely monitoring the changing situation 24/7.”