Daily Mail - 03.03.2020

Page 15

By Chris Brooke

Daily Mail, Tuesday, March 3, 2020^

ThaT sinking feeling

We’ve lost everything:

Kevin Lorryman

outside his bungalow

yesterday and, left,

with wife Catherine

Picture:

ToM Maddick/swns

WHEN floodwater started

seeping into their £200,

bungalow, Kevin and Cath-

erine Lorryman frantically

began raising furniture and

valuables off the floor.

But with the water rising at a

foot an hour, they had to flee

and could only watch as their

belongings were swamped.

The flood quickly rose 10ft to the

roof – and has caused so much

damage they fear their home of 15

years will have to be demolished.

Yesterday as the water in Snaith,

East Yorkshire, finally began fall-

ing slowly, the project manager

and his wife, both 56, told of their

shock. ‘What’s happened is a fact

and we have got to live with it,’ Mr

Lorryman said.

‘I’ve moved on from the initial

shock now. One minute I’m nor-

mal, one minute I’m crying and

one minute I’m laughing at some-

thing stupid. It’s such a roller-

coaster of emotions.’

Only the master bedroom in the

attic space escaped the devasta-

tion at the property they share

with their daughter Kelsey Wilks,

29, her husband Christopher, 34,

and grandchildren Joseph, five,

and Georgina, four.

The Lorrymans had lived in the

bungalow for 15 years without a

problem – until a week ago when

the River Aire burst its banks.

On Tuesday evening, council

workmen arrived with sandbags

to protect the property but by

7am the next day there was already

2in of water inside as the bunga-

low became one of 120 homes and

businesses flooded in Snaith and

neighbouring East Cowick.

Mr Lorryman dashed to buy a

pump but returned at 9.30am to

find the water 2ft deep. ‘We didn’t

have time to think and raced around

lifting things on to the kitchen and

dining room tables thinking that

would be OK,’ he said.

By the afternoon, there was no

choice but to evacuate, taking only

a few cherished family photos.

‘I wanted to put my waders on

and get stuff out but my wife

stopped me and told me I could

injure myself and it wasn’t worth

the risk. There was nothing more

we could do.’

Mr Lorryman said his insurance

company had been ‘brilliant so

far’. He has been told it will be at

least a week before anyone can

step foot inside to assess the dam-

age and believes insurers will

decide it is easier to demolish the

bungalow and rebuild it.

Locals have been angered by

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s

refusal to visit flood areas – around

4,300 properties across England

and Wales have been hit as a result

of storms during the wettest Feb-

ruary since records began.

Fiona Walker, who had to evacu-

ate her mother Maureen Cooper,

80, from her flooded home in

Snaith, said: ‘There is a disaster

here and he needs to show sup-

port and help the people who

voted for him.’

Nationally there were 74 flood

warnings still in place last night

with 15 rivers in the Midlands,

Yorkshire and Lancashire having

recorded their highest ever levels.

Environment Agency director of

operations Toby Willison said

communities in Yorkshire and

along the River Severn were ‘not

out of the woods completely’.

‘There is no room for compla-

cency, people need to continue to

be cautious and take the advice of

emergency services,’ he said.

Littlejohn – Page 19

North:Bright

spells and

scattered showers

High: 10C(50F)

Low: -2C(28F)

South:Mix of

sunny spells

and showers

High: 10C(50F)

Low: -3C(27F)

North:

Cloudy with a

few showers

High: 10C(50F)

Low: -2C(28F)

South:Cloudy

with outbreaks

of rain

High: 10C(50F)

Low: 1C(34F)

North:

Largely dry

and bright

High: 8C(46F)

Low: 0C(32F)

South:Early

rain clearing,

sunny spells

High: 9C(48F)

Low: 2C(36F)

THREE-DAY FORECAST

couple fear £200,000 TODAY TOMORROW THURSDAY

home will have to be

demolished as 10ft

flood reaches roof