Derbyshire suffered greatly from Storm Babet. Homes flooded, a life was lost, and communities faced devastating impacts.
The storm flooded homes badly. Water reached over letterboxes and windowsills. Cars were totally underwater. Sadly, one person died. The council looked into what happened during the storm, revealing that over 1,600 properties flooded, including 400 homes near Chesterfield.
An 83-year-old woman died in her flooded Chesterfield home. The storm’s impact came from rivers overflowing, including the Derwent, Don, and Dove. River levels hit record highs in many places, and some homes flooded that never had before. Drainage problems made things worse in places too.
Homeowners own some drainage systems, called “riparian” ownership, and many people don’t even know this. Bushes and debris often blocked them, exacerbating the flooding. Some homes flooded repeatedly during the storm, despite flood defenses. People asked for sandbags in one area, but few arrived.
The council struggled to get sandbags to everyone fast enough. One flood warning came only twenty minutes before homes flooded. Lorry drivers made waves, worsening the flooding. Floodwaters topped walls in Duffield, and people had to leave a retirement complex. A school closed while they fixed the flooded classrooms.
Sewage systems became overwhelmed during the storm, and manhole covers popped open. Severn Trent said they heard of no problems though. Seven homes flooded in one Chesterfield area, which isn’t covered by flood warnings. Some homes asking for sandbags were already cut off.
Homes that flooded also flooded back in 2019 and 2007. Residents saw floodwater coming up through floors. A flood warning came six hours after Sandiacre started flooding. An alert went out two days before about a lower risk. Many flooded Sandiacre homes were built recently, and they had all flooded before.
New homes got built in flood zones. Someone warned about flooding before the approval. Drivers made flooding worse in Langley Mill, damaging homes.
Derbyshire will start a flood risk partnership to help improve planning and coordination. Intense storms may happen more due to climate change. Communities need to prepare better for floods, and the council and agencies will support them. It’s vital that communities are ready too.
More resources are needed for managing floods, and this is important for the council and other groups. It ensures Derbyshire is ready and can recover quickly. The Environment Agency checked flood warnings. They wanted to see if the warnings acted as expected, and adjusted some warnings based on what they learned.
Our climate is changing, causing extreme weather. The Environment Agency will work with others to help Derbyshire communities become more resilient.