South Shropshire was hit by floods last weekend, 14 months after last year’s disastrous summer.
The main areas affected around Ludlow were Norbury, Bitterley, Angel Bank, Middleton and Burford.
In Ludlow, residents and businesses in Lower Corve Street endured flash flooding in the early hours of Saturday, after hours of torrential rain caused the River Corve to burst its banks and overwhelm the drainage system.
Across south Shropshire, the district council said it had received calls from 56 homes and seven businesses which had suffered the worst of the weather. Residents in Corve Street said they received little warning the floods were about to hit.
Martin Taylor-Smith, district councillor for Ludlow Town and co-ordinator of last year’s relief effort, said: “The Environment Agency obviously failed a lot of people, especially in Lower Corve Street, subscribe to Flood Watch.
“We did not get the flood alert until after the event on Saturday. The result was that we didn’t have sandbags in place. I was padding about at four in the morning putting sandbags in front of doors that were already flooded.”
Councillor Taylor-Smith said sandbags could not be left on the street just in case because they have a limited shelf life.
Ben Ashmore, spokesman for the Environment Agency. said: “We did issue a flood watch in the area at 12:47pm on Friday. This was for the upper catchment area of the Teme which includes the Ludlow area. This was upgraded to a flood warning at half past midnight on Saturday. Warnings were sent out to the emergency services in the area as well as residents who decided to sign up to the Environment Agency floodline service. We also issued a flood watch for the Corve and we are now looking into being able to issue flood warnings on the river.”
Corve Street resident Gillian Sharpe told the Journal: “I feel we’ve learnt that possessions don’t matter very much, we’ve got to have peace of mind. The feeling that every time it rains we are going to be in trouble is getting us down.
“We didn’t have to move out this time but we only got back in in March. It’s just devastating.”
“Our garden is dry, it didn’t come up from there, it came from the road, from in the drains and so quickly.”
Mrs Sharpe and her husband stayed up until 1am at which point the situation seemed safe. They had checked in with Environment Agency but the flood warning was not upgraded.
Mrs Sharpe said: “I would like to thank Martin Taylor-Smith, he did come, it was great, but it was too late, the water was in by the time we got the sandbags.”
The Unicorn Pub on Corve Street was one of the businesses that was also flooded last summer. Manager Ott Bryan said the damage was not as bad this time.
He said: “Between two and four in the morning, the river surged. The kitchen and the cellar were flooded but not the main bar so we were able to keep going on Saturday morning. Our first customer was at 11.30am.”
Councillor Martin Taylor-Smith said: “I’d urge anyone whose home or business has been affected by the floods to get in touch with the council on 01584 813000 so we can be sure to reach everyone who needs practical help.”
Lower Corve Street will remain closed to all through traffic until the road has been swept, the gulleys cleared and flood-damaged goods have been removed from flood-hit properties.
