SuppliedThere were no formal flood defences protecting the home of an 83-year-old woman who drowned during severe flooding, an inquest has heard.
Maureen Gilbert was found “floating in the water” inside her home in Tapton Terrace, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, on 21 October 2023 after the nearby River Rother burst its banks during Storm Babet.
An inquest into her death began at Chesterfield Coroner’s Court on Monday.
Neil Longden, the Environment Agency’s operations manager for Yorkshire, gave evidence at the hearing and was asked why there were no flood defences near Tapton Terrace.
“The answer really is you can build something, but someone has to pay for it,” Mr Longden said.
“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 Tapton Terrace was susceptible to flooding because the land was low, several water sources came together, and the fact there were no flood defences.
Neighbours previously described how five feet (1.52m) 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 had been involved in because of the intensity of the rainfall.
Mrs Gilbert was one of at least seven people who died as a result of Storm Babet, while thousands of homes were left without power across the UK.
“It was a different type of storm than I have experienced before,” Mr Longden added.
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.
Mrs Gilbert’s son, Paul Gilbert, attended the inquest on Monday and was told by assistant coroner Matthew Kewley that her cause of death was drowning.
He previously told the BBC his mother had called him the day before he found her to say “water was in the house”.
He said: “They [emergency services] broke the window to get in; tried to smash the door to get in – but they said it was a danger to life and couldn’t get into the house.
“[The next morning] me and my son both came down. I prised the window open, looked in the window and saw something and realised it was my mum.
“Some people who were here on the street said it took no more than 30 seconds for the water to get to the house and get three feet high.”
Mr Gilbert added he spent hours trying to install flood defences at the home.
He said at the time of her death that he found his mother “floating in the water” when he forced a window open.
According to the Met Office, Storm Babet caused the wettest three-day period on record in the Midlands, with about 400 homes in Chesterfield evacuated.
The inquest, which is expected to last five days, continues.
