Home of pensioner who drowned during Storm Babet was 'not protected by formal flood defences', inquest hears

The home of an 83-year-old woman who drowned during Storm Babet was not protected by formal flood defences, an inquest heard.

Maureen Gilbert was found "floating in the water" by her son Paul on the morning of 21 October 2023 in Tapton Terrace in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, after the River Rother burst its banks. Mr Gilbert told Sky News at the time of his mother's death that he was "very angry" and added: "I don't think there's enough being done with flood defences.

"People get forgotten down here - nobody got it as bad as we did in 2007 and now this year." He added that he had attempted to secure his mother's house with flood defences himself but she rang him on Friday 20 October 2023 to say there was "water coming in the house". Mr Gilbert said it took him seven hours to reach the property, and when he arrived, "it was already flooded way too much" to enter, and he hoped his mother had gone upstairs.

He added that emergency services were also unable to enter the home due to the volume of water and planned to return the next day. Mr Gilbert arrived on the Saturday morning to find his mother floating in the water.

The pensioner, who lived downstairs in the property because she was disabled, was one of at least seven people who died as a result of the storm, which left thousands of homes without power across the UK. Mr Gilbert attended Chesterfield Coroner's Court on Monday for the first day of the inquest and was told by assistant coroner Matthew Kewley that his mother's cause of death was drowning.

Neil Longden, who was the Environment Agency's operations manager for Yorkshire, gave evidence to the inquest and was asked why there were no flood defences near Tapton Terrace, which is next to the River Rother. Mr Longden said: "The answer really is you can build something, but someone has to pay for it.

"There is a feasible solution to the problem but funding, and potentially the planning process, may put that at risk. "There are thousands of people at flood risk around the country.

You would have that challenge in many locations around the country." Mr Longden said that Tapton Terrace is susceptible to flooding because the land is low, several water sources come together, and there are no flood defences. Read more from Sky News:Ex-vicar jailed for role in 'Eunuch Maker' ringQueen 'fought off attacker with a shoe'Hollywood star spotted working in village pub Neighbours previously described how five feet of water engulfed the inside of their properties in Tapton Terrace "within minutes" of the river bursting its banks.

Mr Longden said Storm Babet was "one of the most significant storms" he has been involved in because of the intensity of the rainfall, adding: "It was a different type of storm than I have experienced before." The inquest heard that in 2018, a storage reservoir began to be used to reduce the peak flow further down the River Rother during heavy rainfall. Mr Longden agreed the reservoir was the "only significant step" taken between 2007, when Chesterfield residents previously experienced severe flooding, and Storm Babet in 2023.

According to the Met Office, Storm Babet caused the wettest three-day period on record in the Midlands, with around 400 homes in Chesterfield evacuated. The inquest, which is expected to last five days, will continue on Tuesday morning..