Fishlake villagers' 'nightmare' recovery battle nearly a year after South Yorkshire Floods devastation

Fishlake was the village that found itself plastered across the nation’s TV screens as dawn broke on a scene of devastation.

Families stranded while filthy waters swirled... a newborn baby delivered safely in hospital but with no home to return to... the tears of the elderly as life’s comfort was washed away.

Villagers poured scorn on the Prime Minister that he “came too late”, brushing past him in the street as they pushed wheelbarrows filled with the salvaged wreckage of homes.

Nearly a year on, as they reel from rows over money and with an ever-watchful eye on the water levels, they warn that even these forgotten promises have faded too soon.

Some families still aren’t home. There are caravans and claim forms and a fear that what’s still to come may be too little, too late.

“There is a very considerable level of semi-hidden trauma,” said church warden Peter Pridham, who rallied a community in the wake of that day.

“Particularly within the older generation, who saw a lifetime’s living wiped out in a matter of minutes. Some have moved away, some will never return.

“Afterwards, only half the village was left. We made a commitment to stay, rather than see the village abandoned.

“It will happen again,” he warned. “Physics means it will happen again, until there is a commitment to deal with things at a scale proportionate to the problem. People are very worried.”

More than 1,000 homes and 564 businesses were affected by South Yorkshire flooding on November 7 2019, with 700 houses deemed unlivable in Doncaster alone.

The scale of the impact in the borough is laid out in stark terms. A month’s rainfall fell that day, with 1,200 homeowners told to evacuate. There were 2,000 calls to the council’s emergency helpline, 51 roads were closed and 80,000 sandbags issued.

In Fishlake alone, the equivalent of 2,200 Olympic-sized swimming pools of water was pumped away every hour for 18 days.

Devastation

Pam Webb, owner of Truffle Lodge spa, lost her home and livelihood, watching as three feet of water rose through the floorboards.

The business, which she fought to reopen in January, was shuttered again in March. She was the first to discover she had no insurance cover.

After 16 years, a clause had been added just months before, and while Downing Street helped to source a broker, the revelation had been the start.

“After that, it started to unravel, with people who thought they had the ‘Rolls Royce’ of cover,” she said. “Insurance has been an absolute and utter nightmare.

“I’m frightened to think of those who are still fighting.”

Work has started on the riverbank within recent weeks, to build up flood defences and make the village “winter ready”. The worry, she says, is time.

“As we head towards the winter months, that anxiety does start to rise. When the rain starts to fall and the river starts to rise.”

Recovery

As military support was deployed to Fishlake last November, bringing 285 soldiers and a Chinook helicopter, Dean Edwards was among those rescued by firefighters in a boat.

His house, with the water lapping an inch from the front door, escaped the worst, even as four feet of water filled the home of his 92-year-old father-in-law, four doors down.

“He now lives with us,” said Mr Edwards, who helped to form an action group in the village and last month distributed £40,000 in donations. “He won’t ever go back. There are still static caravans, there are still workmen. There is a string of arguments and delays. Some have only now had building work in the past month.”

Mr Edwards is in constant contact with authorities, monthly Zoom meetings with the Environment Agency and calls with insurers’ bodies as he tries to mediate.

The insurance, he said, was a nightmare, wrangling over settlements and with some families facing battles over cover or discovering hidden clauses they hadn’t known existed.

There have been cases, he claims, where people have been refused renewals from their insurers and, because their homes are unlivable, cannot move to new providers.

“We are pushing for full change,” he said. “In flooding situations all the experience, all the authority and power, is in the hands of the insurance company.

“The system is not fit for purpose. There are too many ways it can be abused.”

Returning to life

A year after the floods, said Mr Edwards, the village was recovering and there was a steady return to life. The clatter of workmen’s tools still sounds down the street.

Yet for those that live here, he said, the battle was fought every day as interest faded.

“I can understand,” he added. “You’re on the front pages for a week and then you’re not. After a month goes by, the TV cameras aren’t there any more.

“You walk your dog on a night and the houses are empty, the village is dark. The village is devastated for a lot longer than the floodwaters stay.”

Services continue at St Cuthbert’s, whose ancient nave acted as a refuge for displaced families seeking light and warmth in the run-up to last Christmas.

There was a wonderful expression of human generosity in the wake of the floods, the church warden reflects, for which the community will be eternally grateful.

And while this was a village that had come to symbolise flooding, he warned, it was but one of many that faced the same challenge nationwide.

“There’s a lack of money to deal with the problem properly and that is at the heart of why there is so much suffering,” said Mr Pridham.

He has called for radical thinking when it comes to flood overspill and the way the nation prepares and reacts.

“Until this is sorted out, these poor individuals will never have justice.”

____________________________________________________________________

Support The Yorkshire Post and become a subscriber today. Your subscription will help us to continue to bring quality news to the people of Yorkshire. In return, you'll see fewer ads on site, get free access to our app and receive exclusive members-only offers. Click here to subscribe.