'I left village I'd lived in all my life after floods - I still feel guilty'

Stephen Cook had lived in the village of Fishlake all his life, but could not face returning after the River Don burst its banks in 2019, causing devastating flooding.

He now edits the parish newsletter from a few miles away in Thorne after he and his wife were so traumatised that they sold their home.

Cook, 73, admits to feeling he had "betrayed" the community where his father had been headmaster of the village school, but the mental strain had a significant effect on them.

New research by academics at the University of Huddersfield hopes to uncover the full impact of flooding on those affected.

The BBC has been speaking to residents across Yorkshire about the lasting effect that flooding has had on their lives.

Retired teacher Cook added: "It feels almost cowardly to say it but we've moved three miles further out. The river bank is higher here than at Fishlake.

"My wife couldn't face it because she said she'd be watching every time it rained and panicking.

"We still think about the people we've left behind. We still feel guilty but also we know the village is in a much more secure place than it was."

Around 170 homes and businesses were affected when the small village to the east of Doncaster flooded in the autumn of 2019 - 90% of the buildings in the community.

Since then, the Environment Agency has upgraded flood protection measures and there are more volunteer flood wardens in the area.

In October 2023, more than 250 homes had to be evacuated in the Catcliffe and Treeton areas of Rotherham after Storm Babet brought flooding.

Fitness instructor Christopher Lloyd, 58, eventually returned to his home in Catcliffe after a year but says the "scars haven't fully healed".

"You never get over it but when it's dry for a little while you can put it to the back of your mind.

"When it rains you're panicking, you're stressing and not sleeping.

"I've read about soldiers being triggered by the loud bangs of fireworks, for me it's raindrops on the window."

The University of Huddersfield researchers spoke to hundreds of people who live in flood-prone areas of West Yorkshire, such as Leeds and Hebden Bridge.

Dr Tom Simcock is leading the study and expects to find that the more someone is impacted by flooding, the worse their mental health becomes.

"We think of home as a place of safety. In a similar way as if you've been burgled, your sense of security is being eroded when your house in a flooded."

Hebden Bridge in the Calder Valley suffered devastating flooding on Boxing Day in 2015.

Andrew Entwistle is the lead flood warden for the town and says the floods exacerbated his post-traumatic stress disorder.

"You could feel yourself shrinking inside. It was shattering."

He says when it rains heavily in Hebden Bridge now, there is a "cloud of anxiety over the town".

"You can feel the tension rise. It grips people. It's palpable. People have stopped me and said 'are we going to flood?' That anxiety and fear because for some people it's a loss of livelihood, other people it's a loss of a home."

York has suffered numerous times from flooding of the River Ouse in recent years, and the city's citizens' advice service supports those impacted.

The charity's chief officer, Fiona McCulloch, says: "When we have lots of heavy rain, people get very anxious, and we can see there's a spike in people coming to talk to us. There's also an impact on physical health, if you're living in a damp property then you've potentially got mould. It's very ongoing and far reaching."

Maureen Gilbert drowned in her home on Tapton Terrace in Chesterfield during Storm Babet in October 2023.

There are still no flood defences on the road where she lived.

The coroner at Maureen's inquest said her neighbours remain at deadly risk of flooding.

Lorna Squires lives two doors down from where Maureen died. She says the fear of flooding has taken over her life.

"You feel like you're drowning even when the water's not coming in because you know it's there all the time, it's in the back of your mind, and you can't shut it out.

The results of the University of Huddersfield's study will be published in the summer.

Researchers hope the findings inform authorities on how to improve mental health support following flooding.

Adds Squires: "The water comes that fast, it's that strong, I'm frightened to live here. I don't want to live here but I have no choice because I can't afford to live anywhere else."

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