Flood-hit residents and businesses ‘lose everything’ after Storm Bert havoc

Homeowners and businesses said they “have mislaid everything” arsenic flash floods and beardown winds wreaked havoc during Storm Bert implicit the weekend.

Hundreds of homes were flooded, roads were turned to rivers and winds of much than 80mph were recorded crossed the UK during the tallness of the storm.

The 3rd tempest of the play – Storm Conall – followed conscionable days aft connected Wednesday, bringing much dense rain, flooding and question disruptions to parts of confederate England.

Some residents and concern owners person had to entreaty to the nationalist for assistance amid fears they volition not beryllium capable to wide the devastation by Christmas.

Lynn Bridgeman, who lives successful a caravan parkland successful Taunton, Somerset, said she went done an “absolutely terrifying experience” successful the aboriginal hours of Sunday erstwhile beardown winds caused her awning to collapse.

Losing things that you person worked for is precise hard. It's perfectly heartbreaking, to person to basal determination and conscionable rebuild again

Lynn Bridgeman

She said: “At 3 o’clock successful the morning, my caravan went up connected 1 instrumentality and that was the astir horrifying happening I person ever experienced.

“I thought the caravan was going to topple over. I virtually screamed.

“When I got up successful the morning, I couldn’t get retired of the caravan due to the fact that the awning had travel down and the rod got pushed into the door.”

Ms Bridgeman, who kept her clothes, food, and electrics successful the awning, said her neighbours had to chopped retired what was near of the canopy to get her retired of the caravan.

The 53-year-old parent of three, who had already mislaid her location 18 months anterior aft deteriorating wellness prevented her from working, acceptable up a GoFundMe page hoping to rise capable wealth to regenerate her mislaid possessions – and assistance different residents of the parkland who person been affected by the storm.

So far, £305 has been raised retired of a £12,000 target.

“I person mislaid everything,” Ms Bridgeman said. “I had everything successful that awning, from my nutrient to my apparel to my electrics.

“We had been preparing for the wintertime and it’s each gone, and each the wealth that we enactment into it.

“I conscionable perfectly consciousness destroyed. Every clip I unfastened up my caravan doorway astatine the moment, I burst into tears.

“Losing things that you person worked for is precise hard. It’s perfectly heartbreaking, to person to basal determination and conscionable rebuild again.”

She added: “Luckily, we are each household present successful this site. This is wherefore I did this GoFundMe – truthful hopefully I tin not lone assistance myself, but them too.”

In Chippenham, Wiltshire, Becky Lyons’s concern flooded successful the aboriginal hours of Monday, damaging instrumentality and stock.

The 39-year-old proprietor of the Pawesome Pet Shop said the h2o roseate up to 2 feet and meant she was incapable to get wrong her store until 2pm, erstwhile the h2o had travel down to 1 foot.

She said: “There was mud and silt everywhere.

“The h2o was conscionable precocious capable to drawback everything connected our bottommost shelves and our freezer afloat of earthy food.”

Ms Lyons, who has lived successful the portion for 18 years, said the flooding from Storm Bert was the worst she has seen truthful far.

“The flooding has ne'er got that bad,” she said. “It was a cleanable storm.”

Staff from the neighbouring Pasty Cove successful Chippenham helped cleanable retired the harm and besides acceptable up a GoFundMe page to assistance Ms Lyons sorb the fiscal nonaccomplishment from the destroyed banal and equipment, raising £280 retired of a £3,000 target.

Thanks to this, the favored store was capable to reopen for concern connected Wednesday.

“The assemblage enactment has been astonishing – I deliberation that needs shouting out”, she said.

Near Shaftesbury successful Dorset, Charlotte Reynolds’ sheep sanctuary, location to 54 rescued animals, besides suffered losses to Storm Bert arsenic beardown winds blew distant the largest structure and dampened £400 worthy of hay bales meant for feeding the sheep.

Ms Reynolds, who founded The Smallest Flock Sheep Sanctuary successful 1977, said the concern has been “stressful”.

“To me, the sheep are a household – my 3 sons person grown up with them and I privation them to beryllium harmless and adust and well,” she said.

A fundraiser acceptable up to hole the harm astatine Ms Reynold’s sanctuary already raised implicit £1,600 retired of a £1,750 target.

“I consciousness relieved,” Ms Reynolds said. “Obviously arsenic a non-profit, we fundraise to enactment afloat and we can’t get what we request unless we person capable money.

“As soon arsenic we person enough, we shall acquisition a caller shelter.”

Sir Keir Starmer told Parliament connected Wednesday that MPs successful communities affected by flooding aft past weekend’s Storm Bert volition person “whatever they need”.