Paul Gilbert has expressed his anger after discovering his 83-year-old mother Maureen Gilbert dead in her flooded Chesterfield home during Storm Babet. The body of the pensioner, who had mobility issues, was found floating in water that had risen rapidly inside her terrace house.
Mr Gilbert had spent Friday installing 4ft-high flood defences, a routine he had followed since the property was badly damaged in 2007. Later that day, his mother called in panic as water began entering the house, and he advised her to go upstairs. It took him seven hours to reach the property with fire service assistance, but rescue teams deemed the water too high to enter safely and planned to return the next morning.
Returning alone at 9.30am on Saturday, Mr Gilbert forced open a window and found his mother's body. 'I honestly can't put it into words. There's a bit of anger because nothing ever seems to get done,' he told Sky News. 'For me to have to come and find her myself was more the upsetting thing.'
The family has launched a crowdfunder for Maureen's funeral and to clear the house, which was uninsured for flood damage due to unaffordable premiums. The page states: 'She lived on the street all her life, rebuilding after the 2007 flood was hard... but this is just devastating.'
Derbyshire Constabulary initially linked the death to flooding but later said inquiries were ongoing and the cause was 'unascertained at this time'. Three other deaths have been confirmed from Storm Babet.
