Paul Gilbert has spoken of his anger after discovering his 83-year-old mother's body floating in flood water inside her Chesterfield home. Maureen Gilbert is believed to have drowned during Storm Babet after being unable to escape the rapidly rising water due to mobility problems.
Mr Gilbert had spent Friday building 4ft-high flood defences in his mother's house, a routine he had followed since the property was badly damaged by flooding in 2007. Later that day, he received a panicked call from Maureen, who said water was entering the house. He told her to go upstairs.
It took Mr Gilbert seven hours to reach the property with the help of the fire service. Rescue teams broke a window but deemed the water too high to enter safely, deciding to return the next morning. Mr Gilbert said: 'The water was nearly up to basically my eyes. I was hoping she’d got upstairs and everything was all right.'
He returned alone on Saturday at 9.30am, forced open the window, and found his mother floating. He told Sky News: 'I honestly can’t put it into words... There’s a bit of anger because nothing ever seems to get done. For me to have to come and find her myself was more the upsetting thing.'
The family have set up a crowdfunder for Maureen's funeral and to clear the house, which was uninsured for flood damage due to unaffordable insurance costs. The page states: 'She lived on the street all her life, rebuilding after the 2007 flood was hard... this is just devastating.'
Derbyshire Constabulary initially said Maureen's death was believed to be flood-related but later stated inquiries are ongoing and the cause is 'unascertained at this time'. Three other deaths have been confirmed from the storm.
