Residents and businesses in Ramsbottom are dealing with the aftermath of Storm Bert, which hit the town on Saturday and led to localised flooding as the River Irwell burst its banks.
Flood warnings were issued across much of the country on Saturday, November 23, with Ramsbottom and Radcliffe being particularly hard hit.
Homes on North Street in Strongstry, Stubbins, which is around a mile from Ramsbottom, suffered water damage as river and rainwater flowed into residential terraced properties.
Resident Nicola Hunt has lived on the street for more than a decade and lost her carpets, kitchen appliances and more as water poured in from her doors and drains.
Originally from Blackburn, she experienced similar flooding in her home on Boxing Day 2015 and in February 2020.
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She said: “I live alone and after seeing the flood warnings, I thought I should start moving furniture upstairs.
“I’ve managed to save some things but the carpets have been ruined and I ended up with no power as water went into the outlets.
“I have flood gates and doors but they did nothing this time. It was coming up into my kitchen floor through the drains too. Thankfully, most residents moved our cars up the road before it got too bad.
“To be honest, I’m resigned to it now, even though it’s a pain. My dehumidifier is the best £150 I’ve ever spent.”
The area, along with other towns in the borough, was hit by ‘catastrophic’ flooding almost nine years ago when the River Irwell rose to critical levels on Boxing Day, and again in February 2020.
Nicola added: “I do love it here. The area and community is great but dealing with the aftermath is hard work and a part of me hopes I’m not living here if this happens again.”
Saul Higgins has been working at JJ Barbers on Peel Brow for almost 30 years.
He said that, despite being in a vulnerable location, just next to the River Irwell, the shop didn’t suffer any damage at the weekend.
Saul said: “We’re pretty lucky. The cellar tends to flood sometimes, meaning we can’t use the toilets but we can carry on as normal here.
“Business was booming this weekend actually, we were packed.”
While some businesses escaped with little impact, others were not so lucky this time.
Peter Allen, director at ISM Waste Services and Recycling on Kenyon Street is no stranger to being proactive at protecting his business from flooding.
Established more than 40 years ago, the company has spent tens of thousands of pounds on flood prevention over the decades, including specialist barriers and reinforced concrete walls.
Peter Allen, said: “This is the third time we’ve dealt with severe floods in less than ten years. We’re very proactive about protecting our buildings and have invested heavily in doing what we can.
“One of the issues isn’t necessarily the river flowing over, but the sheer pressure of it coming up through the drains.”
ISM suffered from flooding in the workshops over the weekend, with “raw sewage water” and debris engulfing the area for “a few hours” before draining away.
They also faced “more than a million pounds worth of damage” in the Boxing Day 2015 floods and Peter has been keen to ensure it doesn’t happen again and said that the concrete barriers “worked this time”, helping to prevent more damage to other buildings.
He added: “Even if the water only gets into the offices and kitchens, it will cost us around £100,000 to replace.
“We’ve taken action and mitigated it by moving things like files higher up to help prevent damage.”
Nearby Nuttall Park also flooded and Manchester Road became treacherous as large amounts of rain fell in a short space of time on Saturday.
Cllr Gareth Staples-Jones said: "Nuttall Park from my knowledge always floods it's a flood basin, and the very fact that Nuttall floods prevents a lot of other areas from flooding.
“I did go to see what the damage was because the force of the water brought down the railings and there is a lot of debris everywhere.
"The council was really good at mobilising people, we had three vehicles out and deployed where they needed to be to clear those blocked drains.
"There is a bigger thing about clearing the drains and how we do that long term, because not enough are being cleared at the moment. I know that because I have seen them.”
He also praised residents for looking after each other.
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