{"id":244834,"date":"2025-07-07T08:46:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T08:46:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/244834\/"},"modified":"2025-07-07T08:46:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T08:46:13","slug":"repairs-still-not-complete-six-months-after-boston-flood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/244834\/","title":{"rendered":"Repairs still not complete, six months after Boston flood"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paul Murphy<\/p>\n

Environment Correspondent<\/p>\n

Reporting fromBoston, Lincolnshire\"BBCBBC<\/p>\n

Six months on from the floods in Boston, Kelly Saunby is still living in a damaged home<\/p>\n

Six months on from serious flooding in Lincolnshire, residents say they are continuing to face severe disruption. <\/p>\n

Thirty-six homes in Boston were flooded internally on the night of 6 January when the South Forty Foot Drain overtopped, with many suffering extensive damage on the ground floor. <\/p>\n

Residents claimed the flooding would not have been as extreme if a nearby Environment Agency pumping station, considered too expensive to repair fully after being damaged in a tidal surge in 2013, had been working. <\/p>\n

The Agency said record rainfall caused the flood and a functioning pumping station would not have reduced the impact. <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Homes were flooded when the Forty Foot Drain overtopped in January<\/p>\n

Kelly Saunby, a mother of four young children, is one of at least a dozen residents waiting for repair work on their homes to be completed. <\/p>\n

“I have got holes in the back door, we did have rats coming in the house. There are exposed wires and there is dust everywhere in the kitchen,” she said. <\/p>\n

The entire ground floor of Ms Saunby’s home was flooded. <\/p>\n

“It’s extremely disruptive and I work nights as well and when I come home I can’t even sleep as I’ve got builders here from seven in the morning until late at night,” she said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Extensive repair work continues on the streets near the Forty Foot Drain<\/p>\n

Some residents are continuing to live upstairs as repairs continue on the ground floor. <\/p>\n

Glenn Parsons moved into his bedroom on 6 January and is waiting for new lounge furniture to arrive. <\/p>\n

“It’s been a nightmare. It’s been very cramped,” he said. <\/p>\n

“My wife and I have only been able to sit on the bed because we lost all the furniture downstairs.”<\/p>\n

Mr Parsons said he was concerned of the threat of more flooding causing further damage to newly refurbished properties.<\/p>\n

“It’s a waiting game. It’s horrible to be in this situation, to have lost everything. You don’t want it to happen again,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"Glenn<\/p>\n

Glenn Parsons says he fears he may be flooded for a second time<\/p>\n

The flooding in Boston came during a period of exceptionally heavy rain which saw more than 200 properties flooded<\/a> across Greater Lincolnshire. <\/p>\n

For the first time in its history, East Midlands Ambulance Service declared a critical incident due to flooding.<\/p>\n

The Environment Agency said it had seen record river levels due to heavy rain, melting snow, and frozen ground run-off.<\/p>\n

However, there was criticism of The Environment Agency<\/a> and its approach to maintaining flood defences and dredging rivers.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

There was extensive flooding across Lincolnshire in January of 2025<\/p>\n

An Environment Agency investigation into Boston’s January floods concluded flood water had both overtopped and seeped through local river defences. <\/p>\n

The Agency said it planned to improve flood defences and warning systems for the local community. <\/p>\n

However, its report said: “The Environment Agency recognises that while steps can be taken to improve resilience, flood risk cannot be eliminated. Future flooding events may exceed design standards for defences.”<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Thirty-six homes alongside the South Forty Foot Drain in Boston were flooded<\/p>\n

Ms Saunby said she and her neighbours were “seriously concerned” about what the winter rainfall could bring. <\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: “We understand the local community’s concern about flooding. <\/p>\n

“Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of flooding events due to rising sea levels and more extreme weather patterns.”<\/p>\n

\u201dEverybody is worried,” Ms Saunby added. <\/p>\n

“If you come back to a brand new refurbished house, with new kitchens and bathrooms, could we be flooded again? We have no idea.”<\/p>\n

Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds<\/a>, watch the latest episode of Look North<\/a> or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Paul Murphy Environment Correspondent Reporting fromBoston, LincolnshireBBC Six months on from the floods in Boston, Kelly Saunby is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":244835,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3843],"tags":[728,70,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-244834","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114811082800506909","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244834\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}