Yahoo News Storm Bert clean-up operation begins in Lancashire after homes flooded as River Irwell bursts its banks
Clean up operations are underway after Storm Bert has wreaked havoc across Lancashire leading to severe flooding as the River Irwell's banks burst its banks in parts of the region.
Authorities issued red flood warnings just after midday on Saturday (November 23), specifically targeting the areas of Rossendale and north of Ramsbottom, with residents urged to take immediate action as water levels climbed dangerously high. The River Irwell was anticipated to surpass the previous highs recorded on Boxing Day in 2015 when levels surged to 2.78m.
Come 4.15pm, the river near Stubbins reached its peak at 2.33 metres. The waters have receded on Sunday, with all remaining red warnings lifted, however a flood alert for the Upper River Irwell catchment with Oldham, Bolton, Rochdale, Haslingden, Ramsbottom and Rawtenstall remains in place, along with four other alerts across Lancashire.
READ MORE: Rossendale funeral and death notices for special people we'll never forget
READ MORE: LIVE M66 traffic updates as rain floods carriageway causing long delays
LancsLive reported yesterday how the River Irwell burst its banks on Acre Park in Bacup facing the football field. Flooding was also reported on major roads in Market Street in Bacup and Burnley Road in Rawtenstall, while the Tesco Haslingden store reportedly closed on Saturday due to flooding.
Several residential properties were flooded in Kenyon Street in Ramsbottom where a waste and recycling business is located. Steve Marsh, who lives on the road, near where it meets Peel Brow, said that the bottom floor of his home started flooding at around 1pm, reaching 2 inches.
Steve spent £90,000 on flood defences for his property following the Boxing Day floods in 2015 when his home first flooded and the water level in his basement reached 49 inches. He told the M.E.N: "Other than that, it never used to do it. It's just a pain in the arse, isn't it?"
The house now has has wateproof floorboards and stone walls as well as waterproof cement, meaning the property more 'sealed' than most. However, water still managed to get in, requiring an underfloor water pump to kick into gear, ejecting 600 litres a minute.
Unfortunately, Steve's neighbours aren't so lucky. He said: "Everyone of them will be flooded. They'll have gone upstairs.
"We do have a lot of cleaning up to do. That's moving everything. In the past, it usually would take two or three days."
It all depends if there's sewage in it because normally the sewage backs up. But because the river's so high, it came up straight and the downfall was so hard. It's looking pretty clear. It's just river water. But you don't want goldfish walking around in your house do you?
He added: "I have a man cave. I think my man cave has come to an end. I keep myself busy building helicopters.
"Some of it's got damaged because we were moving it upstairs in a panic because you don't know how deep it is."
Several properties in Strongstry, around a mile north of Ramsbottom, were flooded too with some residents leaving their homes with overnight bags on Saturday (November 23). Among them were Kath and Gemma whose home started flooding at around 1pm.
They decided to stay with parents in the next village along after the flooding caused the heating and electricity to turn off downstairs. Kath said: "We'll be back tomorrow to clear it all up. I've been here since 1998. This is my fifth flood. The first one was in 2002."
Speaking to the M.E.N at around 4pm, Thomas Denton, 18, said the flat he lives in with his father had not been flooded yet. But three neighbouring properties in North Street had been flooded by then with more said to have been affected later.
Thomas was just nine years old when the Boxing Day floods of 2015 hit - but he remembers them clearly. He said this flood is worse.
His home has flood doors with flood gates fitted around the property. But he said blocked drainage means water comes from behind.
He said: "There's nothing we can really do. It is going to get worse. I think it's supposed to peak at around 6pm."
Brian Kirkwood, who is the chairman of the residents' association, said that the community is still waiting for flood defences they were promised following the Boxing Day floods. He said: "We choose to live here, but we were told that they would build a flood defence."
Speaking to the M.E.N shortly before 5pm, Ramsbottom councillor Gareth Staples-Jones said Bury council had deployed three emergency vehicles and mobilised on-call staff to help tackle the floods. He said: "Fortunately there aren't a huge amount of houses near the town centre where it's actually bursting the banks.
"But there are other hotspots. Near Park Farm always floods from the run off, and a few other areas like that. At the moment it's not too bad in terms of residential threats, it's businesses."
