STORM BABET: Floods devastate Horncastle and surrounding villages

Friday (October 20) saw torrential rain through the night and early hours of the morning which caused the River Waring and River Bain to burst their banks.

Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Horncastle Community Primary School, and Banovallum Schools both closed early on Friday, and several businesses located in the town centre were forced to close, including Tesco, with Kitchen Solutions Lincs Ltd closing their showroom over the weekend and Francs Brunch & Burgers on Bridge Street has seen the whole kitchen area flooded and will be closed for at least a month.

The Little Artisan & Holistic Emporium was also affected, with owner Lynette Richardson extending her thanks on Facebook to all who helped her bail out flood water from the shop over the weekend.

Lincolnshire County Council confirmed on Sunday that the highways team had dealt with 454 jobs in just 36 hours, and Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue crews from Horncastle and Woodhall Spa worked long hours over the weekend to pump water away from properties, remove vehicles and rescue people from vehicles, evacuate casualties, and remove fallen trees from the road – with Horncastle crews reporting rescuing a number of chickens.

The animals at Wolds Wildlife Park have been well cared for, as spokesman Sharron Tonge reassured residents that their keepers had been working flat out to keep their animals safe.

The camels and zebras paddocks and lion enclosures were the most affected, she said, with their lions Mouse and Lorenzo were shut in their indoor enclosure – until Saturday morning when they were let out into the enclosure and video footage showed the big cats splashing around in the water!

Over in Moorby, Charlotte Bell shared the devastating photos which show the damage caused by the floods to her back garden on Holmewood Lane, which also left her horses stranded on higher ground in the field next to their garden.

She said: “We usually just have a tiny little beck but it turned into a huge river. My horse field is next to the garden and the horses were trapped on the other side – we couldn’t get to them, they were completely trapped both sides by the river that appeared. I was trapped in my house with my dogs and unable to get out. Very scary!

“The house was just surrounded by the fast flowing flood water. Never ever seen it like that before!”

Coningsby, Woodhall Spa, Kirkby on Bain, and Tattershall were all also hit by the floods as water levels rose along the River Bain, and the Allan Barker playing field in Coningsby remains underwater this morning.

Today (Monday) Tesco has now re-opened, but Red flood warnings remain in place on the River Bain at Coningsby and Tattershall, River Witham and associated Fens from Woodhall Spa to Chapel Hill, and the River Waring in Horncastle on Stanhope Road, with Amber warnings also in place on the Lower River Witham at Coningsby and the Bain catchment near Dalderby, south of Horncastle.

Horncastle Community Larder is open this morning offering flooding support and advice at the town’s community centre.