Tributes paid to ‘lovely’ elderly woman found dead in flooded …
The son of an elderly woman, whose death in a flooded house in Chesterfield is being investigated by Derbyshire police,[1] has said that he became worried when his mother told him on Friday afternoon there was “water coming in the house”. But, by the time Paul Gilbert reached the property in Tapton Terrace several hours later, he said his mother Maureen’s house “was already flooded way too much”, according to the Mirror[2].
Mr Gilbert said that he had phoned emergency services but they were unable to get into the property due to the level of water, so planned to return the next morning. “I was hoping she’d got upstairs and everything was alright and that we’d see her the next morning.” But, when he returned himself at 9.30am, he “came to the window, forced it open, and found my mother floating in the water”, he recalled, according to Sky News.[3]
Neighbours of Mrs Gilbert, 83, who had lived on the street all her life, said it wasn’t the first time that the area had been flooded and it had been hit previously by flooding in 2007. They paid tribute to the pensioner saying she was “lovely and down-to-earth”
A GoFundMe page[4] has been set up by daughter-in-law Kaye Gilbert to pay for Mrs Gilbert’s funeral and also “to restore what we have left of the property she adored”.
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Kaye Gilbert wrote on the fundraising page: “Unfortunately yesterday the residents of Tapton Terrace suffered terrible flooding again, the flood waters came in so fast they didn’t have time to prepare.
“My husband put his mother’s flood defences up to his chest in the doorways and made preparations to secure the house as he has done many times during such weather warnings. However, when the river burst, the water just came pouring over at rapid speed and the defences did very little.
“The waters were much higher than the 2007 flood and came with a faster flow and pressure which resulted in my husband being stopped from trying to enter the property to check on his mum.
“After a sleepless night, my husband and son found my 83-year-old housebound mother-in-law, had passed away. She had unfortunately been unable to escape upstairs at the speed the water levels were rising. Not only do we have an uninsured house as the excess for flood damage was over £10,000 to clean and restore but a funeral to pay for all whilst grieving.
“She lived on the street all her life, rebuilding after the 2007 flood was hard for us and her but this is just devastating. We now only have memories as everything else is gone.”
The flooding caused serious damage to Maureen Gilbert’s property (Image: Lee McLean / SWNS)
It is understood that Mrs Gilbert lived downstairs in the property as she wasn’t able to use stairs. The flooding occurred after the nearby river burst its banks and according to eyewitnesses reached chest level at its height.
Derbyshire police have said that “investigations are continuing into the cause and circumstances surrounding her death”. A spokesman for the force said: “Derbyshire Constabulary were called just after 10.35am on Saturday, October 21, to the sudden death of a woman in Tapton Terrace, Chesterfield.[6][7]
“Officers, along with colleagues from Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service and from East Midlands Ambulance Service, arrived at the property and found a woman, aged in her 80s, inside the flat.”
They added: “The woman was found in a flooded property. Enquiries are on going into the circumstances of her death. But the cause of her death is unascertained at this time.”
Over the last three days, Derbyshire – including Derby – has seen unprecedented flooding[8] across large parts of the county. Hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes as flood waters reached record levels in many areas. A major incident was declared on Friday
A statement from the Derbyshire Local Resilience Forum (LRF) said: “One of the areas particularly affected was Chesterfield and, due to the number of properties affected, rest centres were set up for residents to take shelter. Sadly, it has been confirmed today that one person has lost their life during the incident.
“Understandably there are questions surrounding her death – and there is an ongoing police investigation into the circumstances. At the same time as those enquiries the recovery operation continues to ensure all areas affected are made safe and that people can return to their homes as soon as they are able.”
The LRF is made up of emergency services, local authorities, the NHS and the Environment Agency.
Writing on social media, Chesterfield MP Toby Perkins said: “Heart breaking news that a woman in her 80s died in Chesterfield during Friday’s flooding. Spoke to her family yesterday. There must be a full investigation into this tragedy, including whether any more can be done to prevent this area flooding again.”
References
- ^ Derbyshire police, (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
- ^ to the Mirror (www.mirror.co.uk)
- ^ Sky News. (news.sky.com)
- ^ GoFundMe page (www.gofundme.com)
- ^ Should the UK deal with extreme weather better? (xd.wayin.com)
- ^ Derbyshire police have said that “investigations are continuing (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
- ^ Chesterfield. (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
- ^ Derbyshire – including Derby – has seen unprecedented flooding (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)