'Our flooded street wasn't given enough help'

Julie Gillies said she would not have known what to do during Monday's flooding if it was not for her neighbour guiding her

Residents on a street that was hit by flooding during Storm Bert said not enough was done by authorities to help them.

Stratfield Way in Kettering, Northamptonshire, was flooded on Monday following heavy rain and similarly saw mass flooding back in 2020.

The emergency services declared a major incident as other parts across the county were also severely hit, including Billing Aquadrome near Northampton where 1,000 people were evacuated.

Julie Gillies has only lived on Stratfield Way for about a year and said there was a lack of "support and rescue" on Monday.

The Environment Agency sympathised with residents affected by flooding and said it issued alerts based on factors including river levels and rain forecasts.

North Northamptonshire Council has been approached for comment.

"If it wasn't for my neighbour telling me and others what to do, I wouldn't have known what to have done," Ms Gillies said.

Ms Gillies said the flood water in her home had risen to her skirting boards before it drained and left her belongings "sopping wet".

She said some residents on the street had received texts warning of flooding but they reportedly came two hours too late.

"There was no rescue at all for disabled, vulnerable, children... whereas when it happened four years ago apparently there were boats down here, fire brigade and everything," she added.

'Reassure us'

Jonathan Kitchen said he expected the area to flood again in the future

Jonathan Kitchen has been in the process of selling his parent's former house on Stratfield Way before it was flooded on Monday and he was alerted by a neighbour.

It also flooded in 2020 when they were still living there.

"I used to cycle around here as a child, it was a floodplain," he said.

"I don't know why it was built on.

"We have no one to really talk to about what's going to happen because we need some sort of flood defence built here to stop this happening again, it could happen any day."

Mr Kitchen said he had received no communication from authorities on what they had done to improve flood defences in the area since the 2020 flooding.

"At least if they've done something tell us, reassure us, because there's people living here with great fear, anxiety and they can't sleep at night," he added.

'I'm quite angry'

Marie Charteris received a flood warning after her home had already been hit

Marie Charteris has only lived on the road since March and her home was flooded on Monday morning.

"We had to walk up to higher ground and it just kept on coming and coming," she said.

"As we stood on high ground, we could see it moving up and no one came which I couldn't understand."

Ms Charteris received a flood warning text at 08:40 GMT to say the nearby Slade Brook was expected to flood, when Stratfield Way had already been hit.

"I've never been involved in a flood before and I wouldn't have had a clue what to do if it hadn't of been for my neighbours helping me," she continued.

"I'm quite angry that we didn't get flood alerts earlier since it had happened before.

"I think they really have to look at why it's happened again."

'Heartbreaking'

Alex Cook-Paulson said if her home had flooded she likely would be stranded due to a current broken ankle she had

Alex Cook-Paulson has lived on Stratfield Way since 2017 and her home did not flood on Monday.

However, she said she still felt "devastated" for her neighbours.

"We could see it rapidly rising, there was nothing we could do at all," she said.

"The alert came in far too late, probably an hour and a half too late."

She felt there had been "no lessons learnt" since the last flooding.

"It's just heartbreaking and I just look at all the dark houses in the evening where people have had to vacate their properties again," she added.

Parts of Northamptonshire including Billing Aquadrome have been hit by heavy flooding due to Storm Bert

On Monday, North Northamptonshire Council set up an assistance centre in the town at the Counties Community Centre for residents in the Venture Park area where support and advice was available.

The emergency services previously said they were under extreme pressure during Storm Bert with control rooms for police and fire inundated with more than a thousand calls over the weekend.

The fire service said it received two calls from the Stratfield Way area on Monday but it was determined there was "no threat to life", a spokesperson said.

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency, that issues flood warnings and alerts, said it sympathised with "all communities" affected by Storm Bert.

"We issue flood warnings based on factors such as river levels reaching certain trigger points; the rain forecast and ground conditions," they said.

"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."