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Dozens return home after flooding evacuations

Kelly Withers
BBC Somerset, Reporter
BBC The picture shows a farm gate and land under water. There is a house and two cars to the left of the image.BBC
Heavy rainfall caused severe flooding across south Somerset

Dozens of residents forced to leave their homes after severe flooding have been allowed to return.

Floods caused by heavy rain from Storm Herminia affected people across south Somerset, including Ilminster, Chard and South Petherton.

Somerset Council provided temporary accommodation for people from Primrose Hill residential caravan site near Somerton on Sunday.

A spokesman for the council said most households returned on Tuesday after a health and safety inspection of the site, with the remaining residents expected back on Wednesday.

The picture shows residential caravan homes and a van under water at the Primrose Hill site near Somerton. The photo was taken when the site flooded in 2023.
The Primrose Hill residential caravan site flooded in December 2023

Almost 50 households from Primrose Hill were taken to Edgar Hall in Somerton.

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said crews finished pumping water from the site on Monday and the site manager confirmed none of the caravans were damaged.

One resident, David Greenway had to leave his home in a dinghy in the early hours of Monday.

"There was a whole army of rescue people and vehicles waiting to take us to the warm and the dry," he said.

"The whole operation has been brilliantly managed. They kept us well fed and watered."

The picture shows David Greenway sitting on a sofa in Edgar Hall in Somerton. He is looking into the camera. David is wearing a green jumper.
David Greenway is one of the residents taken to Edgar Hall in Somerton

A major incident notice, announced by Somerset Council on Monday, was stood down on Tuesday.

Ian Withers, from the Environment Agency, said there was "a huge amount of water" in the rivers and the systems.

"It's impossible to predict where intense showers fall.

"We need to make our homes, businesses or travel plans more resilient," he added.

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