Devastating Doncaster floods cost council over £650,000 in recovery, report reveals

A report seen by councillors details the devastating impact on the November floods which hit several communities in the borough such as Bentley, Fishlake, Scawthorpe, Conisbrough, Denaby, Tickhill, Intake and Balby.

The area had a month’s rainfall in just one day which led to 51 road closures, 1,200 homes were advised to evacuate and the council received 2,000 calls to their emergency helpline.

Figures also show 80,000 sandbags were issued and 700 properties were flooded or deemed 'unlivable'.

The flood recovery and response has cost the council around £650,000. The Property Flood Resilience (PFR) Support Scheme was launched allowing flood-hit properties to receive up to £5,000 to make changes to premises and reduce damage levels should flooding happen again

The report said: “47 flood warnings and alerts were issued across Doncaster and seven of them were severe flood warnings, meaning there was significant ‘danger to life’. This very heavy rainfall over a short period meant that the flooding took hold quickly across a number of areas of the borough.

“A number of areas were affected by flood water as a number of our rivers breached, as well as high volumes of surface water impacting other areas. To put this into context, in Fishlake alone 2,200 Olympic sized swimming pools worth water was pumped away every hour for 18 days.

“Residents and businesses were provided with financial advice and support to access the emergency grants available to them. A council tax and business rates discount was given for affected properties and premises. The South Yorkshire Community Foundation donations raised over £500,000 to support communities affected.”

Military support came to Doncaster aid with 285 soldiers deployed from the Light Dragoons and Royal Anglian Regiment.

Working with the Doncaster Flood Distribution Centre and furniture firm Refurnish, the council helped deliver and fit donated appliances including washing machines, cookers and fridge freezers to over 70 households that were affected by the floods and who were not insured.