Lincolnshire homeowner loses ‘everything’ after floods submerge her house

A Lincolnshire homeowner said she has lost everything after her home was flooded during heavy showers this week.

Jean Hart and her husband have been left with only the clothes on their back and their pets, after the River Steeping burst its banks on Wednesday June 12.

She watched on in horror as her house became submerged in water, ruining all her possessions inside the Wainfleet home.

Now residents in 290 properties in the town will be evacuated due to concerns about flood defences on the river, after the town dealt with more than two months’ of rain in just two days.

Jean said: ‘The whole of the bottom of our house is completely gone. Everything’s floating including our beds.

‘We recently renovated the whole of the first floor, but now everything we own is in foul water at the moment.’

Jean wasn’t able to get to rescue her cat until the following morning, before heading back in a small boat to get her tortoise.

She added: ‘That was really important to me – we’ve lost everything else, I just couldn’t cope with losing my pets.’

Jean said her whole life has been turned upside down, adding that everything she owns is contaminated because of the septic tank water.

‘We really don’t know what’s going to happen…

‘We’ve just been to the shop and bought a few clothes because what I’ve got on is all I’ve got.’

The Royal Air Force had to drop 270 bags of material to fill a breach in the River Steeping after it burst.

But Lincoln City Council said ‘the temporary repairs at River Steeping have started to deteriorate’, adding that the RAF is going to drop more material to repair it.

Following this, the Environment Agency made the decision to ‘evacuate the highest risk areas and the most vulnerable’, while water levels remained high.

On Thursday a state of emergency was declared with around 100 properties left flooded in the town and homeowners evacuated.

More residents are set to be moved to a rest centre in nearby Skegness for around 48 hours, as emergency services attempt to contain the situation.

A state of emergency was declared on Thursday and residents have been evacuated from about 100 flooded properties in the town.

Lincolnshire County Council said the response from the community to the flooding has been incredible.

Posting on its official Twitter page, it said: ‘We are overwhelmed with the community response and grateful for everyone’s assistance,

‘However at present we do not require any more volunteers in response to the Wainfleet incident at this point.

‘We will keep you updated if and when we need any more assistance. Thank you!’