During Storm Christoph in January 2021, Jean and Bernard Daniels’ home on Longshaw Street in Dallam was destroyed by floodwater.
The water was up to their windows and their home, which they had recently moved into and decorated, was ruined.
Jean and Bernard, 63 and 67, were forced to sofa surf for a while before they had to temporarily live in a hotel.
Eventually, they were able to return home. But Jean and Bernard have been left ‘living in fear’ every time it rains.
(Image: Mark Roberts)
On New Year’s Day, during the awful floods that hit Warrington, the couple’s home was sadly destroyed again.
They were evacuated on a raft by firefighters, alongside their dog.
They are now temporarily living at their daughter’s house – with her five children – and are sleeping on a couch.
Their nephew Mark Roberts told the Warrington Guardian: “It has got to a point now where they just can’t cope with it anymore.
“60 odd year olds being evacuated on a raft in 2025, you just can’t even fathom it. It’s just like how can that even happen?
“I can see how much this is affecting them and I don’t even know how they are going to deal with it this time.
“They are totally and utterly wiped out.”
(Image: Mark Roberts)
Mark said how on New Year’s Day, he and his family tried to get sandbags from the council. But despite calling them on seven separate occasions, they had no luck.
He also said that ahead of the floods, the council told residents that it would put sandbags outside of Bewsey and Dallam Community Hub for emergencies. But on the day, these were in a locked container behind a locked gate, so no one could access them.
Jean and Bernard did buy a pump as a precaution, but Mark said this proved ‘pointless’ without there being any other flood defences provided.
They also tried to buy sandbags, but they couldn’t get them anywhere.
He and his family are now calling on the council to ‘start answering’ to affected residents, and to sit down with them and answer their questions.
Mark also said how they need to put flood defences in place to stop tragedies such as this happening again.
(Image: Mark Roberts)
He said: “The council promise the world but never deliver.
“They must have knew something was going to happen, so why not have the sandbags ready for people at the hub?
“The sandbags would not stop all of it and everybody knows that, but what they would do is reduce the water getting in the homes so that people can use things like pumps.
“People have gone out and bought things like that for that reason.
“There is only so much you can do yourself.
“For us, we just wanted the council to start talking to people more than anything.
“The fact it has flooded this many times in four years is just crazy, there is only so many times these people can take this mentally.”
Mark also believes the Environment Agency should do more to prevent further flooding incidents. He said dredging Sankey Brook would be a start to this, but said the agency ‘just do not listen’.
(Image: Mark Roberts)
The Environment Agency and Warrington Borough Council have both been contacted for comment regarding dredging and the reported lack of sandbags.
The chief executive Steven Broomhead said: “The council’s emergency number for out of hours, 443322, is available 24 hours a day, and handled calls before and during the flooding event to provide advice and support.
“Sandbags were distributed to as many properties as possible before the flooding but there was understandably a high demand.
“Our approach in response to the flooding was to prioritise those where there was a risk to life or where residents needed specialist support. We are very sorry that residents will be enduring an incredibly difficult time.”
The Environment Agency did not provide a direct comment, but directed us to their website on dredging.
In a section titled ‘Why doesn’t the Environment Agency do more dredging?’ it reads:
“Dredging and desilting are an important part of our river maintenance programme, which is why we spent around £5 million on these activities in 2019/20. This is in addition to the approximately £40 million we spend on other works in channels such as weed clearance and blockage removal to keep them flowing.
“We consider each location carefully and dredge where we know it will make a difference to reduce flood risk. We assess each situation individually to understand the effectiveness, sustainability, environmental impact and value for money that dredging and desilting will provide.
“Where we conclude that dredging and desilting is economically viable, will not harm the environment and will reduce flood risk, then we will undertake it.”