Highways urge residents not to drive through flood water as roads remain closed

Storm Babet has caused widespread flooding since Friday (October 20) after Lincolnshire saw the equivalent of two months’ worth of rain falling in less than 24 hours.

Water levels remain high in some areas, but the county council has said that the situation is largely improving across the county.

There are numerous Red and Amber flood warnings still in place across the district and a yellow weather warning for rain is in place for tomorrow (Tuesday) with the potential for heavy rain falling on saturated ground and already high river levels set to cause further disruption.

There are also flood warnings in place for Lincolnshire East Coast Rivers, along Great Eau, Long Eau, Woldgrift Drain and Willoughby High Drain, as well as Louth Canal, from Louth to Tetney Lock, the Waithe Beck from Binbrook to Tetney Lock and their tributaries, including the River Lud. Tributaries may also affect Utterby and Covenham St Mary.

Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue has dealt with 14 incidents of vehicles becoming trapped after driving through floods, and residents are urged to not take the risk of driving through any standing water.

Across the Horncastle and wider areas, the following roads remain closed due to flooding:

• A153 Tumby roundabout to Horncastle (Tumby Woodside)
• B1198 Great Steeping
• A15 North from Holdingham roundabout
• Dalderby
• Roughton Road, Kirkby on Bain
• Main Street, Kirkby on Bain
• Moor Lane, Horsington
• Fen Road, Mareham Le Fen
• Duckpool Lane, Stixwould
• Croft Lane at Low Road Junction, Burgh
• Main Road, Aby
• Beck Street, Digby
• Billingborough Road, Folkingham
• Heath Lane, Great Ponton
• Main Road, Little Hale
• Fen Lane, Dunston
• Moor Lane, Potterhanworth

Coun Richard Davies, executive member for highways said: “We are facing an unprecedented volume of jobs, we’ve never seen this many callouts in such a short period of time before.

“We are working as hard as possible and will continue to do everything that we can to keep things moving for the people of Lincolnshire.”

Advice from the council is that, if you can, delay any driving in heavy rain if possible.

If you can’t delay your trip and your car breaks down in the rain, the RAC has provided this essential advice you can follow if you find yourself stranded in the wet weather:

• Keep the bonnet closed while waiting for roadside assistance, to avoid the electrical system getting soaked.
• If your engine cuts out after driving through deep water, do not attempt to restart it because engine damage may have happened – instead, turn on the hazard lights, call for assistance and have the vehicle professionally examined.
• Catastrophic flood-related engine damage is typically caused by water being sucked into the engine, which causes the engine to lock-up and can damage important engine components like piston connecting rods and valves.

More advice is available here.