John Waite

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Two months ago, as The Flood water in The Village of Fishlake, near Doncaster, Peter Trimingham fought through The Night to help their neighbors in safety. The Experience has him thinking about leaving and about what can be done to prevent this from happening again, reports the BBC Sue Mitchell.

When Peter Trimingham volunteer to be a flood warden in The Village where he lived since his childhood, he had not thought it would lead to the toughest challenge of his life.

He and his four colleagues, and flood guards, All over 60 hastily began sagging of sand on The Night of the 8. November, but quickly ran out. The Village was cut off from water, and so took it to get hours for replenishment.

the scale of The disaster took everyone by surprise, because The Village flooded yet, since 1947. The memory of past high water had faded, as new generations moved. Only grainy photos remained.

"is It floods a gorgeous photo in The Village of the past. The Flood water used to shoot down the main street, and The Locals had cracked it. You have barrels of beer positioned carefully to make the step into the pub and picked up about five meters and they have barrels in The Road and the planks, out the door of the pub, on the Higher Ground on The Other side of The Road . You would get to walk across it to your beer. And this is in 1923," says Peter.

A suspension bridge allows access to the bar in 1923, According to Prof Ian Rotherham, ecologist and environmental historian at Sheffield Hallam University, Fishlake was caught in a pincers movement between the Two rivers, The Don and Ea Beck. Both burst their banks in an area of drained fenland That was already soaked from the rain over a period of weeks.

"I've studied the history of the area and was said in the conversation with community groups on The River Don and the different, 'Now, my grandfather used to have a boat, and we didn't know why," he says.

"All the way from Sheffield right down to Doncaster, the municipalities of boats had, because she knew she was flooded with five, six times a year, and they had just the boat. Like the guys with the keg of beer, prepared they were. But then, from the 1950s, we have developed The Solutions , and the people then forget That you ever needed, and [now they say], 'Oh yeah, we thought my grandpa was crazy, but aha, That explains it!"

Percy Smith, the accept postman in The Flood of 1932, with David Duckitt Peter Trimingham and The Other flood guards, That a certain amount of self-satisfaction had crept in, but believe That some of the problems in Fishlake have their roots in The Flood defence system, introduced a decade ago in Sheffield. In 2007, floods in The City led to Two Deaths and hundreds of evacuations. After That , £20m was spent on a flood defence scheme in The Don Valley in the vicinity of The City , the Ian Rotherham is true Fishlake contributed to the problems.

"In Sheffield, the main factories, and other affected areas in the year 2007 are now protected. However, if you keep the water out, then you move downward faster flow, and Fishlake bore the brunt of this. They are not means to keep the water in the upper catchment area - defending those That the company and the premises, to move water downstream faster. It comes to hit faster, harder and deeper. "

Peter and The Other flood of the guards were powerless, when the water poured in, flooding More Than half of the 250 houses in The Village .

people were working in The Dark with ice-cold water pour in through every crack and hole and rises quickly.

"It's pretty traumatic. You have not got vision, you've got the darkness and high water - Two very, very dangerous combinations," says Peter.

"you have no idea of time. You can't see, and my cell phone was destroyed in The Flood water anyway. You feel so small and insignificant, and useless: something much more powerful, as you can imagine, unless you have it. "

Find out moreFor many in Fishlake, the loss cannot be quantified: it includes everything from photos, treasures and Souvenirs to cars and furniture.

The community came together in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. The farmers help their tractors to people in security. Greg Mawson, describes how he fought to save others, only to find his farm under up to eight metres deep under water and thousands of tons of straw are lost.

The Local Church of St Cuthbert's, was a space for people to sleep, in The Night of the floods, and acted as a storage facility for hundreds of donations of food, clothing, children's toys and cleaning products, from mops to vats of disinfectant.

But people are always back to normal at different speeds. Some of those who were evacuated are still not back. Many of the houses, the buzz and hum, complete with heaters, dehumidifiers and fans.

Those whose home insurance covers do not have flood insurance or who have not yet received the insurance payouts, Two recovery grants of about £700 in the sum of Doncaster Council and a local charity, South Yorkshire Community Foundation. According to Peter Trimingham, the response from insurers has been mixed; some people have paid quickly and have been able to rebuild, while others on the left have been arguing about what is covered and what needs to be done.

"It's incredibly stressful, because you have to go, come down the stairs to a flooded House or worse yet, you are in a flooded bungalow and only the clothes they stood up straight. Some people have to wait, because the insurance companies are Slow - this does not mean That you will get The House cleared out, you will get the dehumidifier," he says.

"This is The Experience That people are going through now. So a Natural Disaster is followed by a human disaster-and this is The Point where people are really, really low. "

Fishlake, still partly under water on 12 November was 21. The day before the Peters House was fully equipped with a desiccant, in the beginning, a process That took weeks. He started his wife Fiona and their son, Paddy, just, sleep it again, but the ladder is a wreck - All home textiles had to go to start in the Skip and it is not clear when you get to The Final " go - ahead from the insurers to rebuild.

This feeling of helplessness leads residents to demand more input in the development of solutions. You don't want to see a situation in the Fishlake at the expense of The Other municipalities is secured.

"I think That we are reactive to flooding and in view of what is happening, we need to be more proactive," says Alison Slack, of Fishlake Cricket Club.

"Putting in a high water protection only means That you are going to be a problem somewhere else, and I seriously would not want anyone to go through what has The Village done. "

Chief flood warden and parish Council Chairman, John Waite , review of the pumps to reduce high water-A scheme That has caught Peter Trimingham's eye tried and tested in the hull and under the supervision of Dr. Liz Sharp of the University of Sheffield. It is the rain-water areas use water butts in The Flood .

"The Project is just finished, now, and so far, we have looked at only the people will be ready to take the water butt for this purpose, and a few simple calculations, what effect would it have," says Dr. Sharp.

"What we found is That quite a few people who said, we have talked," Now, if you were to text us and tell us when to empty our water, we would empty it to create more capacity. 'And the people were really willing to do That , because you know That you are not susceptible to flooding. You know, it is a horrible experience and you want to help other people and to prevent That problem. "

appeals to The element of community engagement in this scheme strong, Peter Trimingham.

"It is this feeling That they are doing something and That they contribute to The Public good, as well as their own good. We need more such ideas That is so simple and have so much impact for so little cost," he says.

"people can feel like they are actually doing something, unlike the way we felt in Fishlake. We were flooded and we felt lacking in power. This enables Ordinary People to Do Something brilliant. "

Another scheme, he is interested in, has roots in Sheffield, and in contrast to previous high-water protection measures, it could actually Slow down the speed of run-off of The Don comes in and bears down on the Fishlake. It is to transform a project, semi-meadows of redundant roads in a network of flowers, and wetlands, and to improve the footpaths, the access to the riverside district.

In the Porter Brook , in The Heart of The City , river, plants now the water street, where a "pocket park" was created to bloom in a small section.

"In The Event of flooding in this room will keep the water," says Ian Rotherham. It is a tribute to the "enlightened" city Council planners and developers.

sheffield, fishlake, doncaster, floods, long reads

Source of news: bbc.com