Flooded households in Rotherham to receive £500 grants this week as investigation launched

The leader of Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (RMBC) has told of the devastation and emotional tollof flooding and has said some of the scenes have been heartbreaking.

Around 250 properties in Catcliffe and Treeton were evacuated early on Saturday morning after heavy rainfall due to Storm Babet.

The council said affected households also won’t have to pay any council tax until March 2024 and they are also able to claim up to £500 for help with immediate costs from the government.

Rotherham Council last week announced it would be giving a grant of £350 to all households that had been flooded, and a further £150 grant will be made to these same households.

This will see all flooded households across the borough given a total of £500 in grants to support them in the aftermath.

Councillor Chris Read, leader of Rotherham Council said: “Our hearts go out to everyone impacted by the flooding, which is why we want to be able to do what we can as soon as we can to help people in the immediate aftermath.

“I have witnessed myself the devastation and emotional toll this has had on our residents across Rotherham, and in particular in Catcliffe. The heartbreak of seeing families throwing away much treasured possessions which are beyond repair after being covered in filthy flood water, is hard to witness.

“It is these kinds of objects which can never be replaced which really hit home to me the emotional damage flooding does.

“Our staff will continue to be in the Catcliffe area this week to help anyone who needs it, whether this relates to housing issues, clearing waste, or helping to chuck out damaged goods.”

An investigation into the cause of the flooding is currently being undertaken working with the Environment Agency, who are the lead authority on flooding for the Government.

“While it is still too early to know exactly why this happened,” added Councillor Read.

“I do want to reassure residents that we are pushing for answers sooner rather than later so we can understand what went wrong here, and how this can be fixed.”