Flood clean-up begins

Published on 5th July 2007 in News

Gillian Wilson, of Gill’s Pantry at Goole market, held a raffle and collection to raise funds for flood victims in Hull. Seen here is Gillian with Sophie Last.

People in Goole and district are attempting to get back to normality after the floods of last week, when more than 2,000 properties in the East Riding were affected by floodwater and storm damage.

Millennium Way residents have finally been given the flood gates they were promised months ago. The gates were delivered last Wednesday - after the flooding had taken place. Millennium Way resident, Philip Robinson, who was given three flood gates, said: "We have the flood gates but the drain problem is still not resolved. We are given excuses all the time."

Gilberdyke, Howden and North Cave were thrown a lifeline when Mike Krebs and Bill Wilcox, directors of Humberside Aggregates of North Cave, stepped in to help, donating and delivering 20 tonnes of sand to each community free of charge. Residents were then able to go and collect the sand for makeshift sandbags to protect their homes.

Ward councillors for Howdenshire Paul Robinson and Charlie Bayram organised the operation. Cllr Robinson said: "It's nice to see that so many people came to collect the sand and many younger people were doing repeat trips to help the older people. It showed real community spirit."

Within eight hours all the sand had gone and all the barricades were up. Cllr Robinson added: "The EA said we were not a priory area and rightly so, because there were lots of places worse off than us, but a local company stepped in to help us. It was humbling to see the tremendous spirit of the Gilberdyke residents working together during the crisis."

The East Riding of Yorkshire Council has stated that residents who have had to leave their homes due to the flooding can apply for a council-tax exemption, which means they will not have to pay council tax on the affected property for an initial period of up to six months. In order to claim an exemption, properties must be unoccupied due to flood damage. Anyone wishing to claim an exemption can telephone Billing and Collection on 01482 394747 or call into their local customer service centre.

Businesses that have been affected by the flooding can also seek advice via one of the business advice centres on 01482 880460. In the meantime the council's business advisers will be visiting affected businesses.

The First and Last Pub on South Street in Goole was flooded all last week, and the water has only just receded. Owner Brian Knight said: "I am insured but how far I am insured I don't know. With all the damage and loss of trade we are looking at a claim of about £8,000 now."

He added: "It's a worrying situation. We've lost trade and we are also struggling with time. It's all cost, cost, cost."

Jane Milne, the Association of British Insurers' head of property, said: "These events highlight just how important insurance protection is. If you have been affected by flooding, contact your insurance company. Their priority is to deal with all claims as quickly as possible."

The council has advised that there may be some areas of pooling water which may take some time to drain away and are asking residents not to report these unless there is imminent danger of flooding to property. Residents are also asked to hold on to sandbags and not return them to the council depots. Clean sandbags can be retained and advice on the disposal of contaminated sandbags will be offered as soon as possible.

Despite some disruption to train services in Goole and Howden over the past week, all services returned to normal early yesterday morning.