Marlborough after the flood – the clean-up

‘I’ve never seen anything like it! And it was so fast” are the words on everyone’s lips as they look at the aftermath of yesterday’s floods which have devastated homes and businesses in Town Mill, Kennet Place, The Parade and London Road. “It was much worse than 2003,” commented Val Compton, whose home in Kennet place was flooded with 13 inches of water. Due to rising water levels the water came up through the floor before the river flooded and forced more in through the front door. “It was unexpected that the ground water flooded us before the river,” explained Val.

The Marlborough community came together yesterday, at the height of the crisis and again today when the clear-up started. Yesterday, when residents of Town Mill, Castle Court and Kennet Place were being evacuated the Town Council opened the Town Hall for those evacuated to come together. The agencies – Fire and Rescue service, Police, Wiltshire Council, Town Council team and the many, many residents who came forward to help turned a real crisis into something far less than that – helping people affected manage.

And again this morning, volunteers were out helping flooded residents with the first stage of making homes habitable again, even if that was ripping out floor coverings and damaged furniture, and helping the drying process to start and the electrics to become safely useable again. For many, though, it might take some time.

Town Clerk Richard-Spencer Williams asked that drivers don’t park either in the London Rd (between Wye House and Bridge Garage, in The Parade or in Kennet Place tomorrow morning, as at 9am the Wiltshire Council ‘large sweeper’ will be along to clean the roads and gutters. And the Wiltshire Council Emergency Planning team are organising the removal of the large waste items, i.e. carpets, underlay, destroyed furniture etc. to be removed from the pavements outside the homes, shops and offices affected.

Now the clean-up begins and it will be months before residents can return and businesses re-open. The flood water was heavily contaminated with sewage which means anything that can’t be washed must be destroyed.

Roy and Sylvia from Krumbz café were busy pumping out water from their premises. “We had water up to the kitchen counter,” commented Roy. “And it came up so quickly. I had two customers in for breakfast and then only one hour later the shop was completely flooded. At least we can go home, lots of people are displaced and have lost a lot more. Now’s the time for the community to come together and help each other.”

Marcus from the Rope Works Antiques said, “The water was waist deep. So much has been contaminated. All our electrical goods have to go. We need skips.”

At D & R furnishings in The Parade, Camilla told Marlborough.news, “There was at least a foot of water downstairs.  It came in crazy quick. Thankfully we saved quite a lot. It’s never been this bad.”

Many of the residents who were evacuated spent the night at the Premier Inn or with friends and relatives only returning this morning to survey the damage.

Kate at Hedge Rose florist on London Road said, “The water came right through to the back of the shop and damaged all the furniture – everything is contaminated. I’m grateful to the staff and Ian who have been brushing and pumping the water out this morning.”

At Sumblers Butchers staff were busy sweeping copious amounts of water out of the premises. Martin from Wiltshire County Council was re-opening the roads. He told Marlborough.news “ I was here until 8.30pm keeping an eye, providing assistance and effecting road closures. The Fire Brigade evacuated the residents of Town Mill. I’ve seen other serious flooding in Wiltshire but none in such a tight location as in Marlborough.”

Some were lucky: one resident of River Park told marlborough.news about how close the water came to flooding the house. He had an anti-flood airbrick installed which meant that the water couldn’t flood the underfloor of the house, but it was close. Other residents of River Park weren’t quite so fortunate – even being inches lower, water did manage to get over the threshold and damage all inside.

One (surprising?) observation was that the water didn’t seem to flow through doors, in many of the flooded premises it seemed to come up from the ground, indicating it was the water level of the water table that was a major factor. The Kennet Place flood defences did have an effect, they slowed down the speed of the flooding, but didn’t prevent that area, and The Parade getting under water.

Will this happen again? Is (was?) it a one-off? No-one to whom marlborough.news spoke could ever recall any flooding on this scale, ever before. So not in anyone here’s lifetime. The last ‘major weather event’ that anyone could recall was the snow of 1963. What can be done to alleviate any such risks?

This area is classed as being in a ‘Flood Zone 3’. Zone 3 areas have a ‘high probability of flooding’, which for inland river areas such as this around the Kennet means that there is a 1% chance of flooding in any year. So for the next 99 years, nothing? The experience of yesterday should be a wake-up call, particularly for the Environment Agency as the practicality of living through such an incident is what affects us all, rather than statistics.