By Damon Wilkinson,Stephen Topping
Copyright manchestereveningnews
When the heavens opened last Saturday , Amy Hayes got a familiar sinking feeling. She was one of dozens of people rescued by firefighters after her home in Stockport’s Meadow Mill was left underwater during the devastating New Year’s Day floods . And almost 10 months later she still lives in fear of it happening again. “Everyone is worried that it’s going to flood again,” the 34-year-old said. “They’ve not done anything to stop it from flooding again. “When it’s raining, we’ve got a WhatsApp group, everyone is saying ‘is anyone else getting PTSD because it’s raining?’ Everyone is worried.” Up to three inches of rain fell in just 24 hours in some areas, from New Year’s Eve into New Year’s Day. Rivers burst their banks with streets submerged and water sent gushing into homes. Emergency services declared a major incident as hundreds of people had to be rescued from cut-off buildings, including Meadow Mill and the Britannia Country House Hotel in south Manchester. At the height of the chaos 55 flood warnings – which means flooding is ‘expected’ and that those in the affected areas should ‘act now’ – were in place along with 15 less serious flood alerts. Never miss a story with the MEN’s daily Catch Up newsletter – get it in your inbox by signing up here Antonia Elford, 28, had been out at a New Year’s Eve party when the downpours began. She returned to Meadow Mill, where she lives with her boyfriend, to find the building already flooded – and the couple were only able to get back inside at around 3.30pm. “It’s not that I feel like it’s going to happen again necessarily,” she said. “But I feel like you get a little worry in your brain, a bit like PTSD – you think ‘oh my gosh, is it going to happen again? Should I move my car?’ “You probably know it won’t [happen again] – but there’s not been anything implemented to stop it from happening again.” Cars which were parked outside the flats were written off in the New Year’s Day floods. A recently-introduced parking charge for the flats sparked outrage , while some residents told the M.E.N. they would rather park at Tesco next door. And 10 months later residents say they’re still dealing with the fall-out of the floods. They say the mill now has persistent water pressure problems, the lifts have only recently started working again and the post-boxes have only just been reinstalled. It’s a similar picture in Didsbury , where several homes were evacuated close to the River Mersey. In the Palatine Road area and near Fletcher Moss Park, there are signs of ongoing work to restore properties following the floods. Ground floor flats were evacuated at the Brookside complex on Palatine Road, a social housing development, as well as people who needed medical or specialist support. They included one woman, who didn’t want to be named, who is waiting for a move to a ground floor flat for mobility reasons – but those properties are still being renovated following the floods. “I’m concerned about it,” she said. The 34-year-old had to stay in a hotel for ‘about three weeks’ after the flooding took place, with the lifts out of action at the time. Her neighbour, on the first floor, escaped the worst of the flood damage. The 61-year-old let people take shelter in her home on the day the flooding hit. “It was so sad,” she said. “There were two guys in the road, if they hadn’t come into my flat. If they hadn’t they would have drowned. “It was awful, absolutely awful. I was alright in my flat until the electricity went off for about 32 hours. The rescue was at night – luckily we had candles. “I’ve lived here for 14 years and it was the first time that had happened. Usually we know [if it will flood], there are sandbags out, but I think this was unexpected. It came out of nowhere.” She said ‘a lot’ of her neighbours ended up in hotels after the floods hit, and ‘about seven’ never came back to Brookside. “I’m just hoping it doesn’t happen again,” she said. “But it’s quite scary.” About 100 homes and businesses in Wigan were also flooded on New Year’s Day. Chad and Tia Meadows’ two-bed terraced house on Templeton Road, Platt Bridge, was left under 3ft of water, forcing the couple and their one-year-old son to move in with family for around two months. And because the house also flooded in 2015, they say they were unable to get insurance meaning the £4,000 repair bill came out of their own pockets. “It was stressful,” said Chad, 27. “Everything downstairs has had to be replaced. “But we just couldn’t stop living. We still had to go to work every day. It was so stressful. “When it rained the other day I was out there every hour checking it wasn’t flooding,” said Chad, 27. “Every time it rains we’re panicking.” Both Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham and local MP Josh Simons have visited the area in recent weeks to discuss planned flood defences, while the Environment Agency had also unveiled proposals to try and prevent a repeat of the New Year’s Day problems, which happened when the nearby Hey Brook burst its banks. But now newly-wed Chad and Tia have sold the home, saying they couldn’t wait for the measures to be put in place while coping with the ‘burden’ of the flood risk. “We just don’t want the responsibility of it anymore,” added Chad. “It’s predicted they are going to start work in 2028. “We’re continually doing meetings with Josh Simons – Andy Burnham turned up at the last one. They promised they are going to do all sorts and make sure it doesn’t happen again, but they might not even be here by then – and anyway we can’t wait that long.” Paul Bullen owns The Bicycle Centre on nearby Walthew Lane in Platt Bridge. It was one of several businesses nearby which was also left under water on January 1. “Luckily when it rained on Saturday it wasn’t as bad as New Year’s Day, but you’re keeping one eye on the weather all the time,” said Paul. “But it’s the residents that are not back yet that I feel sorry for. “There are still boarded up properties on Templeton Road. It was April when the last person got back in their home.” He added: “United Utilities have done a little bit of cleaning of the brook. We got a letter from the council the other day blaming it on fly-tipping saying certain items had blocked the brook. “The Environment Agency have plans to do things when the money becomes available and Josh Simons has been lobbying parliament for funds, but they are talking about five years in the future. But it’s the geography of this area. It’s in a bowl and when it rains the bowl fills up.” Nick Pearson, Greater Manchester flood risk manager at the Environment Agency said: “We know the devastating impact that flooding can have, and protecting people and communities is our top priority. Since the New Year’s flooding, we have worked to repair embankments along the River Mersey and carried out works at Northenden Weir to help reduce flood risk. “We have also expanded our flood warning service to cover almost 800 more homes and businesses in Cheadle , Stockport and Platt Bridge, so more people than ever will get vital alerts if flooding is expected.” Paul Barton , Wigan council’s director for environment, said: “Following the New Year flooding, we’ve been working closely with partners including the Environment Agency, Greater Manchester Combined Authority and United Utilities on an integrated action plan to reduce flood risk in the area and help our communities be more resilient in instances of heavy rainfall. Our joint investigation into the flooding has identified a complex mix of causes and, while there is no quick fix, a number of key actions have already been taken or identified; and our organisations will continue to pool expertise and resources in order to have the biggest possible impact. “We will also continue to engage the local community to fully understand their experiences and work with them to reduce the risk of future flooding.” A spokesperson for Manchester council said: “The flooding which took place at the start of the year was an extremely distressing event and since then, a huge amount of work has taken place to improve and strengthen resilience against flooding. Working with our partners in the emergency services and the Environment Agency extensive repair works have taken place to restore the flood basins around south Manchester which were damaged due to the scale of the January weather. Join the Manchester Evening News WhatsApp group HERE “This infrastructure remains essential as the main line of defence against future flooding. As the council does with all emergencies, the response and recovery plan has been reviewed and updated to reflect the lessons which were learned about how agencies can respond to future flood events, and we have made positive progress working with our regional and national partners to review flood warning arrangements and to improve early warning for people at risk of flooding. “In the era of continued climate change flooding presents one of the main risks to our communities in Manchester. This is why we are entirely committed to having a comprehensive flood plan in place and doing everything in our power to prevent future flooding.” Stockport council has been contacted for a comment.
