Warning that Storm Babet floods could shut some Derbyshire roads …

Many roads around Derby and the rest of the county are likely to remain closed for the rest of this weekend and into next week but there are hopes that flood water from Storm Babet^[1] will start to subside from Saturday evening. The River Derwent in Derby reached a record level at 3.58m earlier on Saturday, which led to extensive flooding around the inner ring road area and also prompted the Environment Agency to issue three severe flood warnings – indicating a danger to life^[2] – for 10 years and the only one in the UK during the current problems.

The severe flood warnings, affecting Little Chester, particularly the Eastgate and former Cattle Market areas around Chequers Road; Derby Racecourse Park, and surrounding areas of Chaddesden, including the Meteor Centre; and the Derby Severn Trent Water Treatment Works, will remain in place as long as a serious situation exists.

The river dropped initially after it peaked to 3.57m and the remained steady for several hours but at the time of writing it was still high but falling and had reached 3.27m – 2m is the top of the normal range for the river.

Eastgate in Derby (pictured looking towards the Pentagon and the A52 Brian Clough Way) was completely flooded (Image: Submitted)

The flooding saw much of the city centre cut off as floodgates^[3] were employed to keep the water out of homes and businesses. A major casualty of the flooding was the Museum of Making at the Silk Mill^[4] where staff are waiting to get into the building to assess the damage. A fund-raising campaign has been set up to to help recoup some of the losses, although Tony Butler, Derby Museums Trust director, was confident that the important collections housed higher in the building would be fine.

POLL: Should the UK deal with extreme weather better?^[5]

There were many familiar flooded sites such as the rugby club on Haslams Lane and low-lying areas including the railway line at the rear of the Meteor centre. But the Pentagon island awash with water and extensive flooding on Chequers road was more unusual. Exeter House was flooded after the area around Darwin place car park filled with water.

The city’s £95 million flood defence systems “worked well” according to the city council and the first-time operation of the pumping station at Bass’ Rec to clear floodwater from Markeaton Brook culvert “worked as it should”.

There was extensive flooding in Chequers Road, Derby, outside Browns the builders. (Image: Submitted)

But the recklessness of some motorists, who ignored warning signs^[6] and used pavements to get through flood water, prompted criticism from both Derby City and Derbyshire County councils. The city council condemned them as “unsafe” and “unhelpful”.

A Derby City Council spokesman, asking people for patience in the circumstances, said: “It’s been a really challenging time for our crews, and emergency services across the city, and the picture in Derby remains challenging with floodwater still affecting a lot of roads around the city. We aren’t out of the woods yet, and there is still a lot of work to do.

“We know that the river levels are likely to remain high for a number of hours, and will then go down very slowly. That has significant implications for the reopening of roads, footways, floodgates, and our clean-up process.

“As flood water begins to recede, we are likely to uncover debris and hazards and will need to inspect routes to clear any debris and check they are safe. We have the resources available to do this, and when it is safe we will access affected areas.

“We already know because of the severity of the flooding that this may take several days. We will prioritise strategic networks, and then move onto residential areas.”

The county’s railway network was heavily hit by flood water (Image: Mark Wallace)

A similar message has been issued by Derbyshire County Council, which was facing a further peak of river levels in the south of the county at around 6pm on Saturday evening. On Saturday afternoon, people from more than 250 homes in the Nottingham Road area^[7] of Long Eaton were being asked to evacuate to friends and family or a rest centre at West Park Leisure Centre, as water levels rose in the town.

Extensive flooding was experienced in most places from Sandiacre in the east of the county^[8] to Ashbourne in the west, and north through Matlock Bath, where the illuminations were cancelled on Saturday night, and on to Bakewell and Buxton where the A6 was impassable and closed in parts. At Baslow, the force of the water running down the main road demolished a wall in the early hours of Saturday morning..

People are still being asked to be vigilant, especially if they live near a water course. A county council spokesman said: “While the clean-up has begun in some communities, people are being urged to take action to protect themselves and their property.

“Our highways teams are already out on the main road network where water has receded and have begun the process of clearing roads of mud and debris and checking for hazards brought about by flooding. But with so many routes affected, this is an extensive operation which will take some time – and many roads will remain closed throughout the weekend and into the early part of next week.

“Residents are being reminded to only travel if essential and urged not to remove road closure signs and cones which have been put in place for the safety of road users.”^[9]

References

1. ^{^} that flood water from Storm Babet (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
2. ^{^} indicating a danger to life (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
3. ^{^} saw much of the city centre cut off as floodgates (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
4. ^{^} A major casualty of the flooding was the Museum of Making at the Silk Mill (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
5. ^{^} Should the UK deal with extreme weather better? (xd.wayin.com)
6. ^{^} ecklessness of some motorists, who ignored warning signs (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
7. ^{^} from more than 250 homes in the Nottingham Road area (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
8. ^{^} Sandiacre in the east of the county (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)
9. ^{^} have been put in place for the safety of road users.” (www.derbytelegraph.co.uk)