Flood Mary shares knowledge with victims in Wainfleet

Mary Long-Dhonau took her Flood Mobile to Batemans on Friday to demonstate what can be done to keep the water out.

"I have been flooded many times in Woucester and back in those days there was no help or advice so I have spent the rest of my life learning what people can do to keep water out of their home and how they can recover after being flooded,” she explained.

"I take my house on wheels into communities at risk of flooding, such as installing British Standard Institute flood doors which when locked act will be acting your behalf.

"We also have flood barriers, none return valves to stop the drains back up into the home and even pads like giant nappies that absorb 21 litres of water.”

The resilience forum was organised by MP Matt Warman and Lincolnshire County Councillor Wendy Bowkett.

"Obviously Wainfleet is an area at significant risk of flooding and we (the Government) have spent a significant amont of money upgrading Wainfleet defences which is why during Storm Babet recently we saw a very small amount of houses flooding compared to previous events,” said Mr Warman.

"But it’s absolutely right we give people the chance we give people to ask the Environment Agency, the IDB (Internal Drainage Board), all the people involved questions about why they take the approach they do and we show people what building upgrading properties looks like so they can be as resilient to flooding as possible.

"In the wake of various flood events the Government has offered grants to people to put things back as they were or better.

"There is also a longer term programme upgrading flood defences around the country.

"There are continued programmes around Skegness and the coast.

"In the longer term we do need to look at what spending money in the face of climate change needs to look like.”

Local councillor Jean Hart has been flooded twice and said the resilience forum was useful to find out what can be done to flood proof homes. She said: “There are quite a few things we hadn’t thought of to make the house more resilient.

"We are still worried, though – we had a flood alert last night and we went round to have a look and the river today and is so high again at the moment.

"Yesterday, it was the lowest it has been in a long time and within five or six hours it’s really high again.

"We are fed up of saying it, but they (the EA) need to clean the rivers out like they used to.”

Morgan Wray, of the Environment Agency (EA), said: “We’ve had a significant amount of rain over the past 24 hours and this comes on the back of a wet winter – with Storm Babet in October and Storm Henk in the New Year.

"Rainfall on already saturated catchments across Lincolnshire is causing the rivers to have high levels at the moment.

"We have staff monitoring the levels but thoughout the last few years flooding is becoming more common so we would urge people to sign up to flood alerts.”