Steven Broomhead, who is the chief executive of Warrington Borough Council, joined Jonny Dymond on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, Thursday.
Devastating floods hit Warrington on New Year’s Day and has led to people across the borough having to be rescued from their flooded homes.
Gabrielle Dainty, a resident from Lymm, spoke on the programme about the speed in which her home was flooded on New Years Eve.
“It was really unexpected,” she said.
“The road flooded, we spent some time outside clearing drains, getting things moving and then it came to the point where it was actually, we need to go inside and save our things.
“We’ve had no support from the council or our letting agents, because our home is owned by HS2 and it being New Years Day yesterday we’ve not be able to contact anybody.”
More than 87 homes have been evacuated since the flooding began (Image: Dave Gillespie)
More than 87 homes have been evacuated since the yellow weather warning was put in place on New Year’s Eve.
On the radio show, Mr Broomhead confirmed that 140 people and 35 pets from across Warrington have been rescued so far.
He went on to say that, despite Gabrielle’s concern over a lack of support, the council has been responding to the incident.
“Certainly we were not slow off the mark,” he said.
“We spent the last 24 hours totally focussed on supporting individuals and businesses and prevention of risk to life.
“Our focus now is on the recovery situation, not helped of course by deteriorating weather with the ice.
“The last 24 hours there has been a very strong multi-agency response involving the three MPs, including the MP in Gabrielle’s area and we’ve worked really hard to deal with the situation which was totally unexpected.”
Mr Broomhead went on to highlight concerns over drainage, which he feels need further attention moving forward as extreme weather events continue to occur.
Around 140 people and 35 pets have been rescued so far (Image: Dave Gillespie)
“We are facing warmer, wetter weather through the year, more extreme weather events and I think there needs to be a complete new focus on drainage and the need for investment – make that a real priority in the net zero challenge and the climate change agenda.
“We need the same focus on the installation of drainage that we seem to have in terms of the focus on potholes.
“Local coordination has always been very good in these events, but I think in terms of funding and investment into drainage, certainly there needs to be a refreshed approach to this and certainly one that I’ll be taking up with my three MPs and the government.”
The 68-year-old went on to praise the work of all agencies involved in supporting people across the borough while the flooding is ongoing.
“We always get the correct advice and assistance but often there’s some issues about speed,” he said.
“The fact that this event took place during a public holiday didn’t help I would say, but all the agencies including the blue light services have been tremendous in terms of their response here.”