The South Yorkshire Floods
November 2019
Much of South Yorkshire was struck by the floods in November. Fishlake in Doncaster was one of the worst hit areas. With many of its residents without electricity and some even without homes themselves.
Staff at Meadowhall worked tirelessly to help shoppers who became trapped overnight as the River Don burst it's banks once again, just like it did in 2007. Thankfully the waters didn't reach the shopping centre this time, the damages would have been catastrophic.
James Shaw, shopper at Meadowhall, spoke to me about how he was advised not to leave by staff due to the risks of having to drive through floodwaters.
He told us that many people headed to shops to buy pyjamas and blankets in an attempt to keep warm. James himself even bought pillows telling me that "he needed some new one's anyway!"
Carphone Warhouse were praised for offering free charging points to shoppers too throughout the evening, to allow people to get in touch with loved ones.
James managed to leave the centre just after midnight as he braved the floodwaters and made it home, a few road diversions later!
Meadowhall and Donaster weren't the only places to flood. Wombwell and Darfield were two of the main areas in Barnsley which became affected.
Traffic on the night of 7th November was almost at a standstill in Barnsley. With one woman on social media saying her usual 15 minute commute home from work took almost three hours!
As the rain continued deep into the night, the roads became much worse, with many having to close completely.
The Aldham area of Wombwell became greatly affected, with it for most of the morning on Friday 8th November being completely inaccessible.
As I approached Aldham that morning, my route became blocked by the flood waters. As I arrived, cars that had been abandoned the night before were being retrieved by their owners. Some were even having to be towed out of the water by larger trucks.
It was so clear to see that the flood waters had caused so much disruption to roads and as a result many schools closed due to it being unsafe for children to travel to and from school through the flood waters.
The week of November 4th 2019 was nothing but a harsh reminder for the residents of South Yorkshire as their worst fears came to life. A repetition of 2007.
A months worth of November's rain fell over just a few short days in South Yorkshire this year causing many of its major rivers to burst their banks and flood nearby homes and businesses. Like 2007, the waters wrecked peoples livelihoods in a matter of moments. The waters shattered hopes and dreams of families and business owners as everything they had worked for became submerged under a metre of water. The damage had been done and there was absolutely nothing anyone could do to stop the flow of water that was rapidly heading towards their homes.
The night of November 7th 2019 was the night where everything changed for the residents of Low Valley in Darfield, once again. It was an anxious waiting game as the heavy rainfall began to prepend to the rivers rising water levels.
The heavy rain persisted hard into the night. There was nothing for residents to do, other than pile the sandbags outside of their front doors and move what they could of their belongs upstairs, out of reach of the waters which would, inevitably come.
Many were able to flee treacherous flood waters and take shelter with friends and family members who were kind enough to offer their homes for the night, although some didn't have this option and had to stay
Station Road is usually bustling with traffic and school children on their morning commutes, but the morning of the 8th November 2019, traffic was at a standstill as police and fire crews did their best to pump the waters away in an attempt to clear the roads and houses.
Following the aftermath of the floods, I was invited into the home of Dean and Diane Clarke. They had spent the night on the upstairs level of their home as the awaited the arrival of the flood waters.
It was a harsh reminder for them of events which struck in July 2007. Although devastated of the destruction caused the Clarke's were sure that the damage wasn't nearly as bad as the damage which struck them 12 years ago.
They told me how they had spent the previous day moving what they could of their furniture upstairs but much of their heavy had to stay put downstairs. Like their sofa suite, it had to be raised on their dining chairs in an attempt to save it from water damage.
The stench was something which hit you as soon as you walked into the house, the smell of mud and damp lingered in the air as the walls were marked, showing the significant levels of water that had been stagnant in their home just hours before my arrival.
Water had settled underneath the floorboards, whilst mud had formed a thick layer on the tops. As people walked through their home they left footprints behind.
Another couple I visited lived a few doors down from the Clarkes. This was the home of Mr and Mrs ... They had managed to evacuate their home and spend the night at their daughters house. I was with them when they returned to their home to see the damage for the first time.
Being with them at that moment was truly heartbreaking. There were speechless at the mess that had been left behind. The floorboards had bubbled, there was mud on the floors, much of their heavy furniture ruined. They were an older couple who told me they had lived in their home for 35 years, they weren't strong enough to move their furniture upstairs so they had to abandon the majority of it, hoping and praying for as little damage as possible.
Most of the water had drained out of their house by the time they arrived, however their back garden looked like a swimming pool. Their back garden which was home to two pet rabbits, both of which perished in the flood waters.
They told me they were unsure of where to go from here. "We'll have to put a claim in..." they said. "We won't be in this house for Christmas, everything's ruined."
The ... and their neighbours had tried everything to keep the flood waters out of their home using homemade flood defences as barriers but nothing could have stopped the amount of water that was heading their way.
As the weekend passed, the clean up operation began. Although when Monday morning arrived, commuters faced even more delays due to continued concerns for weather conditions.
For what should have been a bustling Monday morning, Rotherham train station was a complete ghost town, with barely a soul in sight. It was closed due to flooding around the tracks. No trains could get in or out of the station. Leaving many commuters faced with a huge struggle.
Some people had turned up for their trains as normal, having not seen the advice and travel warnings online. Most of them were planning on heading to Sheffield by train, like they usually do for school, work or university. Some of them where angry that their trains had been cancelled. They told me that they knew of no other way of getting to the city so were stuck. Some phoned their bosses from outside the station to explain the circumstances. Some rang for help from friends and family, hoping someone would be available to offer lifts, but with many of the roads in and out of Rotherham still being blocked by flood waters, their chances of making it to work and University were slim.
Rotherham station opened a couple of days later and all services resumed.
