Sowerby Bridge

Christ Church Sowerby Bridge has now closed as the flood relief hub for Sowerby Bridge.

The flood relief hub is now in Sowerby Leisure Centre, Station Road HX6 3AB.

Elland

In Elland, please contact Park Road flood awareness group on facebook. NO MORE AID IS REQUIRED FOR PARK ROAD, ELLAND

The main drop off & storage centre in Elland is WOODMAN WORKS, SOUTH LANE, HX5 OPA. Co-ordinators for this are Jason Freeth & Jan Lewis.The centre is open 9-4 daily. Tel 07982 824 523.

Any volunteers, please go there on Tuesday 12 January, 10am – 12pm to help with a Community Clean Up with support from Calderdale Council and Pennine Housing, when cleaning supplies, help with silt removal and waste collection for damaged items will be available. Call: 07766 465488

As of 8th Jan, Calderdale Flood Aid reported that Woodman Works are still taking in toys, clothing and other items, and although not taking in lots of food still need tinned items please. Contact Cheryl Shaw-Peters or Richard Douglas. White goods and small kitchen appliances etc can also be found here.

There is a massive volume of childrens items and toys collected down at ‘Flooded with Toys’ based at Woodman Works, HX5 0PA. SOME VOLUNTEERS ARE REQUIRED TO HELP CLEAN & STERILISE TOYS HERE. Contact Cheryl Shaw-Peters for further info.

From Monday 4th Jan, Ash Sharma and  Clive Greatorex are organising volunteers to be at the Malt Shovel Inn HX5 9DP from 9am. They are appealing for people to share this info and/or to come and help with the clear up. Ash has had a meeting with Calderdale emergency committee and the Environment Agency yesterday. Skips, bin wagons, jet washers and cleaning materials have all been made available.

The charity Compass Bridge and fellow charity project Colt, Bridgefield garage, cs3 and Happy Valley based on Elland bridge are appealing for support.

Mytholmroyd

In Mytholmroyd, the flood support hub has now moved from  Best Practice Training  to the Countryside Office above the Mytholmroyd library HX7 5HR, tel 01422 886371. They are currently not taking any more donations. They are still offering cleaning materials and food stuff. No food will be served, but hot drink and soups will be available, Still in need of volunteers…. Tomorrow (Weds 6th Jan) opening times are 9.30-5pm.

 

 

 

“We have a stash of clothes and bedding for those who have not yet returned so please keep in touch and thank you to everyone who came and helped from far and near.”

He’s since added:

“As the question keeps popping up I would just like to confirm that we took quite a bit from unit 20 moderna and put it into storage for those who have yet to return or seek help we have clothes shoes and bedding in a storage unit in Mytholmroyd. If anybody needs anything please let me know and I will arrange collection of needed items.”

 

More info about flood clear up and support in Calder Valley towns here.

Calder Valley Flood Relief Fund

If you’d like to donate to Calderdale Flood Appeal, which is being run by Community Foundation For Calderdale CFFC), the link is here.

How to claim your £200 grant from the CFFC flood fund

This is reposted from Rob Holden’s info on Calder Valley Flood Support Group:

The cut off point for the first wave of Community Foundation For Calderdal grants (that will be awarded on Friday 8th January) was 2pm on Tuesday afternoon. We have acted as quickly as we could in the circumstances so there may be people who turn up expecting an emergency grant but they’re not on the first wave list. These people will be given an emergency grant next week.

People must bring 2 forms of ID that must include the flooded address, a photo and signature of the person claiming the grant. Examples: driving licence and utility bill, bus pass and an appropriately addressed letter or library card and bank statement, passport and council tax statement – or combinations thereof.

These checks are necessary because we have a duty to the 4000+ contributors to the fund and the Government to ensure that the money is directed to the right people.

Any grants NOT given out on Friday will be given out next week…

Please can we ask for people to be patient on Friday across all the distribution points because we will need short questionnaires to be completed by each grant recipient, so we can ascertain what peoples additional needs are. This will inevitably slow things down but have a good number of volunteers to help make the operation as slick as possible.

Applications have been filtered by address of flooded property, therefore awards will be made from Todmorden Town Hall, Hebden Bridge Town Hall, Mytholmroyd Town Hall, Barge and Barrel Elland, Copley Crickets club, alternative arrangements have been made for properties in Sowerby Bridge, Luddendenfoot, and Brighouse.

Please attend the collection point where the flooded property is (EG: if your property is in Todmorden go to the Todmorden Town Hall)

Please note allocated time slots have been given in alphabetical order of surname for collection of awards. Please only attend at the allocated time. If you cannot attend please contact us. The person who applied must attend with 2 forms of ID, we will not award cheques to a nominated collector.

If you surname is not on the list your application is not ready for collection.
Todmorden –Todmorden Town Hall.
A – Bl 10am-11am
B0 – Dav 11am -12noon
Daw – Ha 12- 1pm
He– Lea 1pm – 2pm
Leat – Ny 2p – 3pm
O – Thom 3pm – 4pm
Thor – Z 4pm – 5pm
Hebden Bridge Hebden Bridge Town Hall
A – Broo 10am – 11 am
Brow – Dod 11am – 12 noon
Don – Gr 12 – 1pm
H – Lis 1pm – 2pm
Lit – Raw 2pm – 3pm
Rem –Y 3pm – 4pm
Mytholmroyd – Mytholmroyd Working Mens Club
A – Be 10am – 11am
Bl – Di 11am – 12 noon
Do – Hig 12- 1pm
Hil – McA 1pm – 2pm
McG – Rob 2pm – 3pm
Roe – W 3pm – 4pm
Copley – Copley Cricket Club
B – Ki 10am -11am
La – W 11-12 noon
Elland – Barge and Barrel Elland.
A -W 12 -2pm

On 4th Jan Stephen Michael Duncan‎, who works at CFFC, posted info about the CFFC flood appeal:

• The rate which donations are being added to the Appeal is simply phenomenal! The current total is £340,000. (On 7th Jan, the figure had risen to over £400k)
• I can now officially confirm that I have spoken with the Government Dept responsible for the matched funding and I am in receipt of the official document.
• The rules of the Fund are as follows: Contrary to what I was led to believe the total amount of match available is £2m for the areas affected by storm Eva – mainly Leeds, Lancashire and North Yorkshire. The Appeals in those areas are around £450,000 so we should be okay if we reach our £1m target to have all this matched.
• The Government have also suggested that the Foundation collects donations for businesses because we are a registered charity already running an Appeal. We will then hand over the donations and the match given for the benefit of businesses to a partnership between the local business associations and Business for Calderdale.
• Very shortly we will have a punchy Appeal trailer to use at Flood events which BBC Look North’s Harry Gration has agreed to voice over.
• Huge thanks for continuing to promote the Appeal – you are doing Calderdale proud!

This will make a huge difference to our appeal. Please share https://localgiving.com/appeal/Flooding

On 30 Dec, CFFC said they had increased the fundraising target to meet the scale of need, and are now planning to offer grants of more than the originally planned £200. Their 30 Dec update said:

Having now attended a couple of flood strategy meetings with Council leaders the true devastation caused by the floods is becoming much clearer with 2000 domestic properties affected and countless charitable organisations (e.g. Sowerby Bridge Cricket Club & Mytholmroyd Community Centre) and therefore the revised target needs to be raised again so that the support we give will be more than £200 and enough to make a tangible difference to those affected.

We have also been asked to accept donations for other areas affected by the floods in Yorkshire e.g. York & Leeds. Please be reassured that ALL donations made to the Appeal will used in Calderdale unless the donor clearly states that they wish the money to go elsewhere. I mention this because the gift from Morrisons is partly for the benefit of other areas and another significant Fund we hope to announce today will be similar.

New Council grant fund for flood resilience and resistance repairs for home owners and businesses

The Council have just announced grants of up to £5k to flood-proof homes and businesses

Council financial support for flooded households

The latest info (4th Jan) about the £500 Council hardship fund for flooded households is here.

On 31 Calderdale Council  announced Funding for flood hit residents and businesses:

Calderdale Council has now received news of funding from government to help support residents and businesses affected by flooding.

The Council has immediately agreed to make a £500 hardship payment to householders who have been severely affected by the floods. This is in addition to the Council tax and Business rate relief already announced. (See below) The Council will contact households who can qualify for the payment and will try and use the Council tax system in the first instance to pay this, with payments hopefully implemented early next week.

There will also be funding available to help both householders and businesses with immediate repairs. The Council is currently working on how this scheme will work and will be developing details over the next week. The Council is also looking at wider support that businesses might need and any affected businesses are encouraged to contact our business team on 01422 392222 or business@calderdale.gov.uk so that we understand all possible issues.

£2,500 Council grants for flood-hit businesses

Calderdale Council will pay grants of £2,500 per business affected by the flood, to help them open up and start trading again after damage caused by the Boxing Day storm. The funding covers costs such as clean up equipment (generators, dehumidifiers, lighting, brushes etc), building and stock security, IT and electricity, temporary accommodation, specialist advice and marketing to keep customers informed. More info here.

The flood grants from Calderdale Council will be in addition to the grants being given by the Calderdale Community Foundation, which will be supporting personal hardship and community needs.

The Council says it  also concerned about the lack of available insurance for householders and businesses and will continue to raise this with the Government for an urgent solution.

This financial support from the Council comes from central government funding. The Daily MIrror reports that:

“…the government said £60m had now been made available to deal with the aftermath across the north, up from an initial £51m.

That will include grants of up to £2,500 per business and £5,000 per household, although no details have yet been released of the application process.”

Calderdale Flood Aid Free Legal Clinic 13th Jan, 7pm, White Lion in Hebden Bridge

Calderdale flood aid have arrange for a free legal clinic to be held at 7pm on Wednesday 13th January 2016 in the White Lion, Hebden Bridge. The clinic is only for people affected by the floods in the Calderdale area.

Following the massive clean-up in the local areas, people are now facing other challenges and many of them are legal issues. The legal clinic will be appointment based only due to the forecasted demands.

It will be run by Ramdens Solicitors and to secure an appointment PLEASE EMAIL :

Roads & Rail

Many people will be returning to work or school tomorrow (Monday 4 January), so Calderdale Council is advising people to allow extra time for their journeys and to check before they travel.

Here is a list of current road, bridge and towpath closures in Calderdale.

• Elland Bridge, Elland – closed for the foreseeable future due to structural damage. Police will be there during the morning rush hour on Monday 4 January to help direct people. Diversions are in place – there is access from Brighouse via Elland Road / Park Road onto the bypass but not into Elland – please find an alternative route. The diversion to Elland is via the bypass / Stainland Road and into West Vale.
• Mayroyd Lane, Hebden Bridge – closed for safety reasons due to the condition of the lane following the flooding. Residents can use Palace House Road as the alternative.
• Midgley Road, Mytholmroyd – closed due to a collapsed wall.
• North Dean Road, Copley – closed due to the collapse of Copley Bridge.
• Scout Road, Mytholmroyd – closed due to a landslide.
• Footbridge between Bridge Lanes to Hebden Vale Centre, Hebden Bridge – footbridge closed.
• Towpath East of Woodhouse Road, Todmorden – canal towpath closed near Woodhouse Road.
• Footbridge between Hollins Mill Lane and playing fields, Sowerby Bridge – footbridge closed.

Temporary traffic lights in the centre of Mytholmroyd and between Hebden Bridge and Mytholmoryd are causing some delays. The Council advises being patient or if possible avoiding these areas. The Mytholmroyd town centre temporary traffic lights are expected to be in place all week.

You can get updates about road closures etc from the Council website.

The Canal and River Trust, which owns the collapsed bridge in Elland, has put a new footbridge over the canal at Elland lock, linking from Park Road over the canal into Lowfields Business Park giving access into Elland. But it turns out it’s too narrow for a pushchair and child side by side, so Calderdale Council has asked them to widen the bridge.

Sandra Lupson from Elland reported on Monday 4th Jan,

“The Canal and Rivers Trust are now putting a wide bridge in instead at the lock opposite the crem (to be honest it looks wide enough for a car). A nice guy from the Canal and River Trust also said within the month there would be another foot bridge near the canal basin. He also assured us that the stone would be saved at Elland Bridge and even if they had to build it with concrete for speed, it would be clad with the original stone. That is such heartening news!”

Leader of Calderdale Council, Cllr Tim Swift, says that the replacement Elland Bridge will not be operational until December 2016.

Elland buses – TJ Walsh service

Sandra Lupson also reports that from the morning of Tuesday 5th, there will be a TJ Walsh service at 8.05 at the bottom of Exley lane slip road. This service is for anyone and will drop off at the Co op! There will also be a School special TJ Walsh at 3.30 from the bus bay at Brooksbank to bring Brooksbank students back down, they will be dropped of again at the bottom of Exley lane slip road at 3.45 Both services will be FREE for this week only then from next week there will be a charge which I am waiting to be confirmed.

Flood clear up health & safety

The flooding is heartbreaking, and cleaning it up can make you sick. Rob Holden of Calder Valley Flood Support advises everyone to not only wear marigolds and use disinfectant, but also to wear an anti viral face mask when doing any flood clean up because all the filthy gunk in the water and mud can become airborne and make you sick. If you haven’t got a face mask wrapping a scarf round your mouth and nose is better than nothing.

Several people who have been clearing up after the flood now report they are “exploding at both ends” with diarrhea and vomiting – even though they have been careful to wear gloves and wash their hands and so on. So please wear a face mask too. We have been taking off our flood clean up clothes and shoes as soon as we come back to the house, and putting them in the cellar so they can’t contaminate the house. If you do get diarrhea and vomiting, the advice is to keep drinking clear fluids so you don’t dehydrate, and stay away from public places so you don’t spread the bug – eg stay away from the GP surgery.

There have also been reminders about the dangers of leptospirosis and its more severe form Weil’s Disease, which is passed on through rats’ wee.

Hebden Bridge resident Myra James said,

“Just waiting for a bus home after an afternoon spent disinfecting chairs at Riverside School in Hebden Bridge. Just before we left we learned that the flood water is 80% sewage. Bath time I think!”

Hebden Bridge Town Hall have gloves, overalls, masks & goggles for collection – although  face masks keep running out and they are one of the things HB Town Hall is currently asking for (see H.B. Town Hall Needs section, below.)

Here is a link to more info about health and safety in clearing up after flooding.

Flood recovery help – giving and receiving

Calderdale Flood Relief website is a big source of info about just about every aspect of the flood relief.

Calderdale Council have 100 dehumidifiers available for households. Please call the Contact Centre from Monday 4th Jan if interested, 01422 288001.

Emotional support and counselling

Feeling tired, anxious and having difficulty sleeping is normal after you have been flooded. Calderdale Council advises contacting friends and family for support and say it can take a while for life to return to normal. If you think you might need further emotional support or counselling, please contact the following services:

• Noah’s Ark has a self-referral service – 01422 300457
• Healthy Minds provides peer-led wellbeing groups in Sowerby Bridge – 01422 345154
• Calderdale Talking Therapies (Insight Healthcare) offers psychological support for adults registered with a Calderdale GP; this is a self-referral service – 0300 555 0191
• SANE mental health charity has a helpline – 0845 767 8000
• The Samaritans – 0845 790 9090

For longer term trauma, including post-traumatic stress, people are advised to see their GP.

Showers

Waterside Gym, Valley Road, Hebden Bridge and Tod Sports Centre are places where people can go for a hot shower.

Fire Brigade will pump out flooded basements

If you need flooded cellars/basements pumped out, please call the Fire Brigade on 999. They are expecting calls. The Calderdale Council emergencies webpage says the Fire Service is not charging for pumping people’s houses, as a major incident has been declared. The Council says that requests for pumping from the public should be phoned through to the contact centre, which is open 24/7 on 01422 288000, or 999.

Why isn’t David Cameron applying for a grant from the EU Solidarity Fund?

Cameron must apply to the EU Solidarity Fund for money to help deal with the floods – why hasn’t he already done this?

Even before this flood, there was a £5m shortfall in the £20m Calderdale Council needs for four proposed flood alleviation and reduction schemes.

With so many uninsured/uninsurable businesses, we’re going to need all the help we can get in Calderdale – and that’s before we get to money needed for more and better flood alleviation and reduction work – but Cameron’s so far refusing to ask for EU Solidarity Fund money that exists exactly to deal with such disasters.

MEPs in the North already wrote to Cameron asking him to apply to the EU Solidarity Fund for a grant to help with the recovery from the 4th and 5th December floods.

If you want to write to your MP, Councillors or MEPs about this, you can contact them through the Write to Them website.

Long term recovery and flood risk reduction

When we’ve cleared up as best we can, we’re all going to need to think about how we’re going to reduce climate change, reduce flood risks and adapt to climate change and the increased flood risk it brings and that we won’t be able to lessen. This flood really feels like a wake up call and a game changer. It’s way worse than any previous floods we’ve experienced and it’s clear the planet simply can’t take the abuse that humanity, as we currently organise ourselves, are inflicting on it. As well as climate change, the two other big issues that we need to tackle in order to reduce the risk of dangerous flooding are:

• public spending cuts aka “austerity” – of the £20m needed for flood alleviation and reduction schemes in Calderdale, only £5m funding is available
• land management and the related issue of EU farm subsidies, that pay farmers to manage the land in ways that increase flood risk.

Header photo credit: Helen from Ribbon Circus

Updated daily