A housebound grandmother is the latest victim of Storm Babet.
Maureen Gilbert was found dead yesterday (October 21). Her son and grandson had gone to check on her after learning her street had flooded.
The 83-year-old lived in Chesterfield, Derbyshire all of her life. Her devastated family recalled how the area had last flooded after severe weather in 2007.
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After the incident six years ago, her son Paul installed flood defences in the hope of stopping the water. But after the severe weather this weekend, a nearby river burst its banks, leaving the defences useless.
It's understood the water was up to chest height at its peak. Maureen lived in the downstairs of the property and was incapable of making it upstairs.
Neighbours told how she very rarely left the house after the pandemic. Though she was visited often by carers.
Daughter-in-law Kaye said: "After a sleepless night, my husband and son found my 83-year-old, housebound, mother-in-law, had passed away. She had unfortunately been unable to escape upstairs at the speed the water levels were rising.
"Not only do we have an uninsured house as the excess for flood damage was over £10,000 to clean and restore but a funeral to pay for all whilst grieving. She lived on the street all her life, rebuilding after the 2007 flood was hard for us and her but this is just devastating.
“We now only have memories as everything else is gone. My husband put his mother's flood defences up to his chest in the doorways and made preparations to secure the house as he has done many times during such weather warnings.
"However, when the river burst, the water just came pouring over at rapid speed and the defences did very little. The waters were much higher than the 2007 flood and came with a faster flow and pressure which resulted in my husband being stopped from trying to enter the property to check on his mum."
It's believed Paul has returned to the home today in the hope of salvaging any of his mother's treasured items, including her wedding photo of her and her late husband Jack.
A friend said of Maureen: "She was such a character, she was a massive football fan, she was a big Liverpool fan and followed Chesterfield too. I'm devastated, it's just heart-breaking it could have been allowed to happen. I think questions need to be asked. Surely there should be a central database of housebound residents so they can be made a priority for help?"
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