Snaith flooding: Residents 'had minutes' to save belongings

People hit by floods in East Yorkshire have criticised authorities for a lack of help as rising water levels spark further evacuations.

Residents in Snaith said they had less than an hour to clear their properties after the River Aire overtopped.

Firefighters said 100 homes had been affected and the Environment Agency has declared a major incident.

Water levels are still rising and nearby East Cowick is being evacuated, the BBC has learned.

Dozens of people in Snaith were told to leave their homes as the town started to flood on Tuesday.

Shaunna Caddle said she had no warning from the agency or East Riding of Yorkshire Council before her home on Gowdall Lane was submerged.

She said she had less than an hour to prepare after she saw the floodwater approaching.

"We didn't have time to move our furniture, our business is there, we've lost animals because we weren't able to get them out. We've lost everything," she said.

"It's completely destroyed now. It's completely under water, the water's taller than me."

Lisa Deakin said her father, 76-year-old Stuart Mellard, had received no help from the authorities and was not insured after his home flooded in 2000.

Describing Tuesday's flood, she said: "It just came in and kept coming and kept coming and it's waist-high, maybe a bit deeper than that now inside there.

"He didn't want to come out, he was sat in his slippers, watching his telly, remote in his hand, cup of tea, fire on. He didn't realise it was going to come in."

Tim Marshall, a landlord who owns a flooded commercial property in Snaith said he had phoned the council on Tuesday asking for sandbags but had "got no response".

"We got a warning in the morning from the Environment Agency that flooding was imminent and the ladies who run the two salons on the property, they spent the day getting as much equipment out as they could.

"At approximately 12:00, they more or less said it is going to flood and, within half an hour it had happened, so that's as much warning as we got."

The council said it had distributed 20 tonnes of sandbags to at-risk properties.

A spokesman said staff would continue to provide advice and assistance to residents and would be stationed at Snaith Priory Church, which is being used as a rest centre.

The Environment Agency said water was rising at 30cm an hour and it was working with the police and fire service to evacuate at-risk properties.

Frank De Planta, from the agency, said that levels were "rising very, very fast" and more than 100 homes could be hit.

"We think this is because the culverts under the railway line that run between Snaith and East Cowick, we think that they're blocked," he said.

"So the Ings that should be draining isn't draining, it's just filling up."

He added: "If this water comes over the railway line it will impact on a further 50 properties in Snaith and another 60 properties in East Cowick."

Three schools have already been closed and drivers are being warned to stay away from the area.

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