Floodwaters recede in Corby and nearby villages as Storm Bert clean-up begins

In flood-hit Corby, recovery crews have been clearing abandoned vehicles from areas where flash flooding swamped roads – and cars.

Terry Cardwell and daughter Maya had been travelling along Oakley Road last night at 5pm when their car became the first victim of the terrible conditions.

He said: “It was pitch black, we didn’t realise how deep it was. Others made it and we nearly got through. We were stuck in the car and the car started to move in the waves from the other vehicles. We got out and it was knee deep.”

This morning their car was waiting to be recovered – one of the four under the railway bridge. Another driver, Cosmin, had tried to drive through at 10pm.

He said: “I just came from work and my satnav took me on a strange route. I was driving OK then a lorry went through and the wave went over my car.

"At least I’m OK.”

In Corby Old Village, businesses were beginning to assess the damage caused by the Willow Brook (southern stream) bursting its banks.

The brook should flow under The Jamb bridge but Rosina Howe, chair of Corby Old Village neighbourhood association, says residents have been trying to get debris cleared for ‘years’.

She said: “It’s not been cleared out and we have been trying to get it sorted. There’s trollies, goal posts – it needs to be cleared out. I would say to the authorities come and sort the brook out. Usually it floods on to the Charter Field, but the debris hasn’t helped.”

Michelle Murphy of Complexions Beauty Salon opened up her mum’s shop to inspect damage caused by water that had seeped under the door during the height of the floods.

She said: “It’s not so bad, but we need to get some dehumidifiers. We need to dry out the floor.”

Over the road at The Strand hair salon, owner Jennifer Johnston’s team has also been on mopping duty to clean the dirty puddles left by the river water.

She said: “I’ve been here for 24 years. We have been really really lucky because we have a false floor, but this must have been a bit worse than two years ago.”

In Collingwood Avenue, Keith Wooding of K2 Recovery was on his third call of the day to pull out a stranded Honda Civic from outside Elizabeth Coles’ house.

She said: “It was really horrible last night.

"It was mad – 4x4s, taxis were all going through, but one driver got stuck. We had it like this in 2020 so we are used to it.

In Geddington, Graeme Atkins and his wife had gone to bed at 10.30pm but were woken at 3am by their neighbour to alert them to the water sweeping up the road into their cottage.

Graeme, the CEO of Geddington Volunteer Fire Brigade, would have used a pump but it was ‘too late’ as the electricity had already gone off and 9 inches of water in the house.

He said: “It’s the second time in two years. It broke the ford at about midnight. I was woken by the neighbour – when I went down the stairs to the hall I soon realised why he was banging on the door.”