Town hit by Storm Bert flooding still recovering

A Wiltshire town is still finding its feet after devastating flooding caused by Storm Bert at the end of last month.

Chippenham was heavily flooded on 25 November when the River Avon burst its banks, submerging the town centre.

Various businesses and dwellings were affected by the deluge with many losing stock and personal possessions.

The BBC returned to the town nine days later to see how they are recovering.

April Barlow, who lives in Westmead Lane near the town centre, says her cellar was flooded and the domestic pump she used for minor floods became overwhelmed.

She said the cellar "was absolutely full of water, it came up the stairs and threatened the hall – all the electrics were under water".

"I honestly thought it was going to come in the house – we only had two inches to spare."

Ms Barlow had a better view of the impending flooding than most. Living in a listed building, she has a well in her living room through which she can monitor the water table - something that was "scary" on the day.

Eventually, she borrowed a family member's pond pump, which was effective in pumping out the water, but feels more should be done to protect homes.

"The fire service were kind, they were looking for strategies for helping the elderly residents next door and we managed to grab them for a minute, but they had no resources to pump the water out.

"The Environment Agency were triaging – we couldn't be a priority, as it wasn't a threat to life, but you would think there would be a safety net for threats to homes."

Living next door to April is Amelia Hanratty, whose garden and outbuildings were badly affected during the flooding.

"The whole garden was completely submerged, including the sheds and the summer house.

"It didn’t go in the house, but the summer house is where I keep my memory boxes, stamp collections, photographs, books and all my memories – just gone.

"We had a skip arrive Monday to take everything away that was damaged in the flood," she said, adding it had been "very tiring".

Natalia McGuigan, a self-employed barber at G Hatto on the High Street, said it had taken her and her colleagues five days to reopen the shop: "You wouldn’t believe what we did in a week.

"We didn’t even know if we’d be open then," she said, adding: "We had the heating on all through the week - we also had a dehumidifier.

"We had to throw out quite a lot. The kit in the cupboards underneath our work station, everything in there - that had to go. The sofas had to go."

But she said her customers had been hugely supportive.

"Some have come in and brought us gifts, some have come in and told us how sorry they are, but we’ve got a really good clientele base here.

"We’re really lucky and they’ve been really patient with us as well."

As the town recovers - it is hoped that it will be spared the worst of the remaining winter weather - with further storms expected later this week.

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