Residents' plea over new flooding report

Pete Mabbott and his family were forced out of their house for six months

People affected by flooding in Nottinghamshire during Storm Henk have urged authorities to be honest about the impact, ahead of a report into the response.

In the week of the storm on 2 January, 98mm (3.9in) of rain fell across the county, which came after three months in which rainfall was 170% above average.

This led to 344 homes and 40 businesses in 65 localities being flooded, with 69 roads officially closed.

Pete Mabbott, who says his home in Gunthorpe was uninhabitable for six months, said: "No-one wants to admit they could have done things differently, so it's hard to get straight answers."

Large areas of land around the River Trent were flooded in January

The Nottinghamshire County Council section 19 report is a legal obligation for councils when four or more properties have been flooded.

It examines the role of various public organisations, such as the county and district councils, the Environment Agency, National Highways and water companies.

The report notes the impact of Storm Henk's rainfall was amplified due to surrounding land already being saturated.

The flooding around Henk differed from that experienced during Storm Babet in October, it states, as the wet ground led to rapid run off, which swelled larger rivers rather than drains and ditches.

The Environment Agency issued seven flood alerts and 46 flood warnings, and the county council declared a major incident.

The report will be considered by Nottinghamshire County Council on Monday

The worst affected area was Newark and Sherwood, with 60 properties in Lowdham, 32 in Newark itself and 25 in Girton, recorded as flooded.

Mr Mabbott had to be rescued from his house by firefighters.

"The only people from a council we saw were a couple of days later taking pictures with a drone," he said.

"The ground was wet from all the rain and water was coming off the road into the house and slowly rising.

"But the real shock was when the river had peaked and the rain stopped, the water levels suddenly surged.

"We have sluice gates nearby and it felt like the water should have been kept back. An hour or two longer and we might have got away with it.

"But no-one admits they have control over this sort of thing."

Melanie Hibbett says her car sales business suffered £25,000 of damage

As well as the work of council staff, the report notes the contribution of nine community flood signage schemes (CFSS) to the response.

It said these volunteer-led groups helped by "encouraging community resilience and promoting road safety".

But Melanie Hibbett, who claims her car showroom suffered about £25,000 of damage, said these volunteers were not enough on their own.

She says cars ignoring road closure signs caused bow waves, which went into shops and homes.

Ms Hibbett said: "There was a lady who lives on the same road where the car lot is, and I can't fault her.

"She was marvellous but really got no help whatsoever from the council or from highways, and was told that she shouldn't close the road off.

"I think they really need to look at putting proper procedures in place for this road."

The River Trent came close to record levels shortly after Storm Henk

Paul Peacock, leader of Newark and Sherwood District Council, said: "This level of flooding was the worst since November 2000 and we worked closely with the government and Nottinghamshire County Council to get grants out to residents and businesses as soon as they became available.

"We apologise to the business owner if they felt disregarded, however, due to the extent of impact, we had to prioritise residential homes for face-to-face visits."

The county council has been approached for comment.

The report will be considered by the local authority on Monday to provide a background for discussions over further mitigation measures.

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