Sponsored by
FLOODS: Our lives are ruined - MORE OF YOUR PICTURES
CHARLES Bibby was at home sick on Wednesday when he looked out of the window - and couldn't see any grass.
The garden was a sea of brown water that was lapping at the bottom of the patio doors. And as he watched in horror it began to pour into the lounge.
Charles, aged 22, ran around scooping up items, and he had the presence of mind to jump in his car and move it to higher ground.
But the tide rose so quickly it claimed virtually everything including his 38inch television, furniture, games consoles and hundreds of DVDs.
It also engulfed sentimental items including a collection of children's books belonging to partner Jennifer Green who had saved them for their baby daughter Jasmine, aged nine months.
Charles also dropped his mobile in the filthy water outside and it washed away despite him plunging his arm in to feel around in a desperate attempt to retrieve it. It contained irreplaceable pictures of his daughter in hospital after she was born.
He said: "I stepped out of the house into knee-deep water, it was freezing, but I had to move the car. I was grabbing stuff trying to save it but in the end I realised everything left was ruined it and I gave up.
"Someone rang the fire brigade asking for sandbags but no-one came."
Jennifer, aged 27, added: "Luckily we got insurance two weeks ago, but nothing can replace sentimental items.
"Next door's cat drowned after it hid under the decking. The neighbours tried to get to it by lifting planks with a crow bar, but they were too late."
The water started to subside by 9pm and was completely gone by morning, leaving a high tide mark of misery.
A DISABLED woman who moved back into her South Yorkshire home only three months ago following the Great Flood of 2007 has been flooded out again.
Maureen Knowles, aged 58, is devastated after her newly-repaired home on Aughton Road, Aughton, was swamped a second time by a torrent of rainwater in the flash-flooding that hit South Yorkshire on Wednesday.
She told The Star: "Everything is ruined."
Maureen, who suffers the chronic condition fibromyalgia that causes pain all over the body, blames Rotherham Council for allowing her just-dried-out home to flood yet again.
She says she tried warning the council that work they were doing to the drainage outside her home following the floods of 2007 would make the problem even worse in the future.
She now believes firmly her warning proved correct after the deluge on Wednesday afternoon.
Maureen moved back into her home with husband David and daughter Laura only in March, because it took so long to be repaired after the floods of June 2007.
She said: "The first time my home flooded the council said they would alter the way water is drained away from Aston Comprehensive School next door into a drain near my home.
"I told them the slope of the pavement needed to run away from my house, but they made it slope towards my front door rather than to the road.
"I warned them it would flood again but they ignored me."
Maureen, who has lived in the house she bought from the council for the past for 19 years, is currently staying with relatives in nearby Alexander Road. Her possessions meanwhile are piled up on furniture in her sodden home and the flooring is wet through.
She now fears she may not be able to return to her property for years.
"The last time it flooded it took two years for us to get back in," she said. "The insurance claim from 2007 hasn't even been settled properly yet.
"Now it's happened again and it's even worse than the first time.
"The water was even deeper this time and it came up so quickly we didn't even have time to move the furniture."
A Rotherham Council spokeswoman said the authority was dealing with a large number of reported incidents from Wednesday into Thursday. She promised Maureen's concerns would be investigated and discussed with her in a hope to resolve the situation as soon as possible.
READ MORE:
Flood-hit Ponds Forge latest
Sheffield's drains 'can't cope' - WHAT DO YOU THINK?
FLOODS: Family flies home to anguish
FLOODS: Theatre and gallery closed
FLOODS: War veteran lifts morale
FLOODS: 'There may be many more'
What do you think? Add your comment below.
BUY ONLINE: Buy The Star - Monday to Saturday - for local news, sport, features and ads. Sign up on line by clicking here.
READ MORE
Main news index
Your letters
Features
South Yorkshire's environmental news
Kids Zone
More business news
More Rotherham news
More Doncaster news
More Barnsley news
Latest sport
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Sheffield
Saturday 04 February 2012
Today
Heavy snow
Temperature: -2 C to 0 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: West
