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Fishlake charity book launched by flood-hit villagers

Richard McCarthy/PA Media Flooding in FishlakeRichard McCarthy/PA Media
Prior to the November 2019 flood, villagers said Fishlake 'had not been flooded for 100 years'

The residents of a South Yorkshire village which saw dozens of homes flood after torrential rain have launched a book recounting their experiences.

More than 170 buildings in Fishlake near Doncaster were filled with dirty flood water in November 2019, making up roughly 90% of homes in the village.

The book, called Flood: The Stories of a Village Underwater, includes 85 personal stories and 350 photographs.

Profits from the book will go to help those still recovering from the floods.

At the height of the flooding, the Environment Agency issued seven "threat to life" flood warnings on the River Don in South Yorkshire.

The river overtopped due to the sheer volume of water, causing flooding along its route in Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield.

Flood book
The book, produced by a small team of villagers, contains stories and photographs from many of those affected

Justin Smith, one of a team of five villagers in Fishlake who put the book together, said: "We had about a month's rain in 24 hours, I remember going to bed about 21:30 GMT thinking we were through it as the measuring station up the river was showing that it was dropping.

"I had a bang on the door at about 23:00 GMT that night when somebody said, 'you had better get out, it's coming', and within no time at all it was about three foot deep in my house."

The book, which has been compiled over the last two years and funded through donations, was launched on Sunday afternoon at St Cuthbert's Church in the village.

St Cuthbert's Church
St Cuthbert's Church, where the book was launched, acted as a hub for donations during flooding

Explaining how the book came about, Mr Smith added: "We've had amazing support from so many people at the time of and immediately after the floods.

"Neil West, the book's designer, had the idea of a book as a way of saying thank you to all of those people."

Attending the launch, Dan Jarvis, Mayor of South Yorkshire, said: "It reminds everybody of that sense of community and the coming together of the people here in Fishlake when the terrible flood struck.

"It also reminds us to do everything we can to invest in our flood defences and minimise the risk of this happening again."

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