大象传媒

THE CARLISLE FLOOD
by Ed Hanson

Carlisle recovers from the serious flood damage

Every home owner dreads having their home flooded - it can turn into a nightmare for everyone involved. The damage to furniture, belongings and the property can result in misery and money problems.

Inside Out spent a week with one of the families on Warwick Road in Carlisle affected by the serious floods in January 2005.

I used to travel along Warwick Road into Carlisle everyday when I worked in Cumbria, but I've never seen it as it is today - a mass of white vans and skips overflowing with plaster, floor boards and other rubbish generated by the devastating floods in January.

I was filming five people in the area who were trying to rebuild their lives and homes now the flood water has receded.

It was an uplifting and also desperately sad experience.

To my surprise I spent a lot of time laughing while filming Trevor and Ros Notman.

A new mobile home

Home from home? Trevor Notman fixes up the new caravan

The Notmans refused to be down beat, even though they've spent the last month living in their flood damaged house with their daughter and grand children.

As their new home - a static caravan - was delivered to their backyard Trevor told me:

"It's like Buckingham Palace compared to what we've been living in!"

No sooner were the jacks down than Ros was cleaning the new abode top to bottom.

Recovering from the flood

One street away Spud Reed, after a hard day's graft working on flood damaged homes as a plumber and heating engineer, was knocking the plaster off his own sodden walls.

Tackling the damage - Spud gets to grips with renovation

His wife Ann and he are making the best of a very difficult situation.

They had no insurance and are now having to use all their savings and spare time renovating their house.

It was terrible to hear Ann describe the day she returned to her house.

This is how she described her emotions when she saw the damage:

"I was sobbing my eyes out and I thought of all the years we worked, slogging our guts out and got the house just the way we wanted it and it was all gone in just hours."

At night the streets affected have an eerie feel, only the street lights illuminate the skips and rubbish still on the streets.

There's no flicker of televisions or living room lamps.

It will be many months before the lights of deserted houses on Warwick Road and many other streets in Carlisle are back on again after the great flood of 2005.