Derbyshire: Flooding led to 1,700 evacuations, council says

About 1,700 homes were evacuated over the weekend after heavy rainfall led to flooding across Derbyshire.

The county council said 200 roads were also closed at various times after Storm Babet hit the UK on Friday.

The Met Office said Derbyshire, along with 12 other areas - including Nottinghamshire - broke its daily rainfall record for October last week.

A yellow warning for heavy rain has been issued for Tuesday, which could lead to further flooding, it added.

The warning is in place between 03:00 and 16:00 BST.

The Environment Agency has said flooding in parts of England, including in the East Midlands where rivers burst their banks, could continue for several days.

In the Commons on Monday, Environment Minister Rebecca Pow said at least seven people had died in the wake of the storm in the UK, including Maureen Gilbert in Derbyshire.

The 83-year-old was found dead in her flooded home in Tapton Terrace, in Chesterfield, on Saturday.

Mrs Gilbert's neighbours said five feet of water had engulfed the inside of their properties "within minutes" of the River Rother bursting its banks.

Ms Pow was asked by Toby Perkins, Labour MP for Chesterfield, why residents on Tapton Terrace only received a phone call from the early warning system after their houses had already been flooded.

She responded that the Environment Agency was working "very closely" with residents to "fully review what happened".

In Ashbourne, the community rallied around a group of elderly residents whose homes were severely damaged by flooding.

Many of the residents of all 10 Alms Cottages have been staying with family members after flood water quickly entered their homes.

Ben Sellers, who helped clear sodden furniture from the properties with his friend Mark Harrison, said the damage was "really bad".

"I think the residents think they are going to be moving back in a couple of days, but the damage is so severe that it may be closer to six months," the 32-year-old said.

The men have set up an online fundraising page, which has raised more than £7,000 to help the residents buy new furniture and carpets.

A care home, in Duffield, was also evacuated with 20 residents rescued by firefighters on Saturday.

In Baslow, the hotel manager of The Devonshire Arms said the storm had also caused trees to fall in front of houses and people were collecting their possessions from the village green due to their homes being flooded.

Lisa Frost said: "Our cellar was flooded with things floating around. The smell of the river bed and the water in general was really bad.

"However, all the water has gone [from the premises] and the big clean-up is happening now."

The A52 inbound - a major route into Derby - was forced to shut between the Wyvern retail park and Pentagon Island on Saturday following torrential downpours and flooding.

Vinny Ghuman-Manak, owner of Texaco Garage on Pentagon Island, said all the fuel in pumps had been contaminated, which would cost "hundreds of thousands of pounds" to repair and they had not been able to trade.

"It was absolute hell and devastation... everything was floating around in the back of the shop," she said.

The A52 inbound has since reopened but the Eastgate underpass, which saw as much as three Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of water, may not reopen until the end of the week.

Flooding on the road has led to talks about whether Derby County's League One match against Exeter City at Pride Park Stadium can go ahead on Tuesday evening.

The authority said there was concern over whether clear roads near the stadium would be able to handle matchday traffic.

Many businesses have also been affected including Ian Marshall, who runs Mertrux - a Mercedes-Benz dealership close to the A52.

He said more than £1m worth of parts had been damaged, adding the flood defences put in place nearby had not worked.

"The flooding was level with the window sills... we have £1.5m worth of parts ready to go out to a customer, they are now all scrap," he said.

"I feel very emotional... this site has never flooded before to my knowledge."

The Museum of Making, at the Silk Mill in the city, said it was forced to closed on Saturday after the River Derwent overflowed into the museum's ground floor.

Tony Butler, from Derby Museums, said they were waiting for insurers to assess the damage and was unsure when it would reopen.

Belper Town FC's Raygar Stadium was also hit for the third time in five years.

The club said the pitch was completely destroyed by flood water, which leaked into the clubhouse, adding it has called on supporters to help them to "put things right".

The city council said record-breaking water levels were seen in the River Derwent and warned cleaning up after the floods could take several days.

Council leader Baggy Shanker said flood defences did work, but it was the worst flooding the city had seen to date.

Clive Stanbrook, of Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service, warned motorists they still needed to take care on Tuesday.

"Road closed signs are there for a reason and even if it looks like the flood water has gone, there's still a lot of debris," he said.

"Any standing flood water, you don't know how deep it is."

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