
Repairs still not complete, six months after Boston flood
Kelly Saunby, a mother of four young children, is one of at least a dozen residents waiting for repair work on their homes to be completed. "I have got holes in the back door, we did have rats coming in the house. There are exposed wires and there is dust everywhere in the kitchen," she said. The entire ground floor of Ms Saunby's home was flooded. "It's extremely disruptive and I work nights as well and when I come home I can't even sleep as I've got builders here from seven in the morning until late at night," she said.
Some residents are continuing to live upstairs as repairs continue on the ground floor. Glenn Parsons moved into his bedroom on 6 January and is waiting for new lounge furniture to arrive. "It's been a nightmare. It's been very cramped," he said. "My wife and I have only been able to sit on the bed because we lost all the furniture downstairs."Mr Parsons said he was concerned of the threat of more flooding causing further damage to newly refurbished properties."It's a waiting game. It's horrible to be in this situation, to have lost everything. You don't want it to happen again," he said.
The flooding in Boston came during a period of exceptionally heavy rain which saw more than 200 properties flooded across Greater Lincolnshire. For the first time in its history, East Midlands Ambulance Service declared a critical incident due to flooding.The Environment Agency said it had seen record river levels due to heavy rain, melting snow, and frozen ground run-off.However, there was criticism of The Environment Agency and its approach to maintaining flood defences and dredging rivers.
An Environment Agency investigation into Boston's January floods concluded flood water had both overtopped and seeped through local river defences. The Agency said it planned to improve flood defences and warning systems for the local community. However, its report said: "The Environment Agency recognises that while steps can be taken to improve resilience, flood risk cannot be eliminated. Future flooding events may exceed design standards for defences."
Ms Saunby said she and her neighbours were "seriously concerned" about what the winter rainfall could bring. A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: "We understand the local community's concern about flooding. "Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of flooding events due to rising sea levels and more extreme weather patterns."'Everybody is worried," Ms Saunby added. "If you come back to a brand new refurbished house, with new kitchens and bathrooms, could we be flooded again? We have no idea."Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


BreakingNews.ie
9 minutes ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Wimbledon grounds hit by lightning amid ‘challenging' weather
A lightning strike hit the Wimbledon grounds on Sunday as the head of the tennis championships admitted weather conditions had been 'challenging'. Blustery conditions and rain overnight failed to dampen spirits in the queue for on-the-day tickets, with fans lining up in ponchos and under umbrellas. Advertisement Those travelling to Wimbledon also faced transport issues with 'severe delays' on the District Line from Edgware Road to Wimbledon because of a signal failure at Putney Bridge. Transport for London (TfL) said tickets were 'being accepted on London buses and South Western Railway' instead. All England Club chief executive Sally Bolton said the tournament would have a 'catch-up' with TfL after the championships to look ahead 'in terms of investment into the District Line'. People in the queue remained jovial as they lugged sodden tents and camping chairs before the gates opened at 10am. Advertisement Spectators queue in rain ponchos under umbrellas on Monday morning (Mike Egerton/PA) Ms Bolton said no one was injured after lightning hit a car park at the Championships on Sunday. Speaking to the media on Monday, Ms Bolton said: 'I have to say the weather yesterday was really quite challenging. 'We did have a lightning strike in car park six. 'No one was injured, nothing got damaged, but it was just a reminder of the nature of adverse weather and always being prepared for that.' Advertisement Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz walks off the practice courts on Sunday during a rain spell (John Walton/PA) Asked whether TfL was providing adequate service to those attending Wimbledon, Ms Bolton said: 'We have an excellent relationship with TfL, we're working with them all year. 'You won't be surprised to hear that we have been speaking to them during the championships. 'We have been and remain clear with them that delivering an event of this scale in this part of London requires the infrastructure in this part of London to support us in doing that. 'They're very aware of that view, and we have arranged to catch-up with them after the championships, to look at not just what happened this year but also to look ahead in terms of investment into the District Line.' Advertisement The All England Club's plan to expand into a neighbouring golf course, adding 39 new courts, will be subject to a judicial review hearing this week at the High Court following a challenge by the Save Wimbledon Park group. Ms Bolton said the All England Club 'remain really confident that we'll make the progress we need to make'. Ground staff sweep water from the rain covers on an outside court on Sunday (Jordan Pettitt/PA) The All England Club chief executive added: 'The scheme we are seeking to deliver is all about safeguarding and enhancing the future of the championships, but also delivering fantastic benefits for the local community, including a new 27-acre public park. 'So we remain very committed and determined to deliver it, and excited about the opportunity of what it can do for both the Championships and the local residents.' Advertisement There were covers over many of the outer courts on Monday morning including No2 court after wet conditions overnight. Conditions are expected to improve through Monday with rain changing to sunny intervals by late morning, with a maximum temperature of 22C, according to the Met Office. The conditions followed a mixed bag of weather during the previous week – from blue skies and temperatures as high as 34C to overcast and rainy spells. Warm and sunny weather is forecast in SW19 for much of the rest of the week with temperatures predicted to hit 30C on Friday. British singles hopes at Wimbledon rest on Cameron Norrie after his gruelling five-set win followed Sonay Kartal's defeat on Sunday. He next faces defending champion Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday. Cameron Norrie celebrates victory following his singles win against Nicolas Jarry on Sunday (Ben Whitley/PA) Norrie, a semi-finalist in 2022, is only the third British man to reach the last eight more than once in the last 50 years, after Tim Henman and Sir Andy Murray. Kartal's loss to Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova included an embarrassing malfunction of Wimbledon's new electronic line-calling system on Centre Court. Organisers admitted the technology was turned off in error on a section of the court for a game, with the mistake only becoming apparent when a shot from Kartal that clearly missed the baseline was not called out. A Wimbledon spokesperson later said the technology was 'deactivated in error on part of the server's side of the court', the 'chair umpire followed the established process' and both players had received an apology. A minute's silence was observed at Wimbledon at 10.30am on Monday to honour the victims of the July 7 London terror attacks 20 years ago.


The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Timelapse footage shows how quickly Texas floodwaters rose over causeway
Timelapse footage provided by a witness shows floodwaters rising over a causeway in Kingsland, Texas, and completely submerging it in the span of a few minutes. The flooding occurred after torrential rain fell in the central Texas area on Friday 4 July, the US Independence Day holiday. The death toll from catastrophic floods reached at least 78 on Sunday, including 28 children, as the search for girls missing from a summer camp continued and fears of more flooding prompted evacuations of volunteer responders


BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Downpours fail to dampen spirits at Ipswich Music Day
A mixture of rain, sun and more rain failed to quash the spirits of revellers and performers, as Ipswich Music Day celebrated its 35th free festival regularly sees thousands of people descend on Christchurch Park to see mostly local acts perform, though on Sunday the crowd was forced to dodge a number of heavy showers."There's no denying there was a lot of rain at the start of the day, but by about 14:30 the sun was blazing and the crowds really turned out," said Wayne Bavin, who was compering the BBC Suffolk Whiting, head of vibrant town services at Ipswich Borough Council, added that despite the unfavourable weather, "as usual it was a great, free day out". "I've now been part of this event for well over 20 years and it keeps drawing in people every single year," he unique selling point was its "quality music" provided by local acts, he council managed to keep the event free by working with as many stakeholders as possible, he said, holding commercial events earlier in the year and raising income through concessions, such as bars. Local band Afterdrive spoke of their excitement to be performing, ahead of their support slot for Suffolk star Ed Sheeran at Portman Road next Ben Watts said despite the "iffy" weather, they were "all super blown away". Other band members added it was great preparation for next week's stadium Atkins, 78, and Bernadette Atkins, 77, said they had come to the event every year for many said Ipswich Music Day could usually be "quite wet", with Norman adding "it's brilliant". Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.