Storm Ciara

[Heartland]

The ominous sound of the siren at Hebden Bridge, signalled yet another start to storm damage and flooding in the town.

 

I wonder how this storm has affected the Calder & Hebble Navigation. Presumably boats cannot travel along the river sections, but has there been damage to the weirs and infrastucture? 

[Alan de Enfield]

 

[PaulJ]

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Edited February 11, 2020 by PaulJ
Wrong info

[Alway Swilby]

Lots of damage at Figure of Three locks apparently.

[TheBiscuits]

21 hours ago, Heartland said:

I wonder how this storm has affected the Calder & Hebble Navigation. Presumably boats cannot travel along the river sections, but has there been damage to the weirs and infrastucture? 

 

20 hours ago, Alway Swilby said:

Lots of damage at Figure of Three locks apparently.

https://www.facebook.com/100001423796364/videos/2956937844363646/

 

Facebook video, sorry.

 

It's destroyed, not just damaged.  For those that don't know it the river is on the other side of the towpath, over the banking.  What looks like a small river flowing at the side of the lock is where the bywash used to be!

 

 

[magpie patrick]

34 minutes ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

https://www.facebook.com/100001423796364/videos/2956937844363646/

 

Facebook video, sorry.

 

It's destroyed, not just damaged.  For those that don't know it the river is on the other side of the towpath, over the banking.  What looks like a small river flowing at the side of the lock is where the bywash used to be!

 

 

Flippin' 'Eck!!! How did that much water end up between the two locks? The debris on the top gates of the lower lock shows it must have been completely submerged. The top lock seems to have survived relatively intact given there is water going over the bywash. There is also a storm weir (a former lock) back into the river above the upper lock - I know the river would have been overwhelmed but has it overtopped into the canal section?

 

I 

[dmr]

On Sunday some parts of Hebden Bridge were under 4 feet of water. Today I reckon half of the shops are open with more due to open tomorrow. The flood damaged stuff piled up in the streets is almost all gone, the  fire brigade (and council) have hosed down the streets to remove the mud and stones, today the fire brigade were cleaning up the paths in the park next to the Calder. There are still a few skips in town and one or two little heaps of sad flood damaged stuff but otherwise its almost like nothing happened. The people of Hebden are truly impressive.

 

The towpath is looking pretty tide too, I did that. ?

 

................Dave

[David Mack]

The shop owners of central Hebden Bridge were better prepared this time than in 2015, not least because the flood wasn't as deep and fewer properties were seriously affected. Since 2015 properties have been refurbished with solid floors, washable decor, ground floor electrics all at high level etc. So for many the post-Ciara activity is mainly washing down and cleaning rather than complete refitting. That said I am sure a lot of stock has been written off and some furnishings and appliances will have to be replaced. And chatting to one cafe owner on Monday he said the flood barriers fitted to his front and back doors had been useless - he could see the water pouring round and under them, despite the rubber seals, and he said that talking to the neighbouring shops, none of their flood doors had worked either.

But you are right, there is a spirit of resilience in the town, and things are getting back to normal.

[Heartland]

The damage to Figure of Three Lock is of most concern. How will CRT reconstruct it ?

[dmr]

3 hours ago, David Mack said:

The shop owners of central Hebden Bridge were better prepared this time than in 2015, not least because the flood wasn't as deep and fewer properties were seriously affected. Since 2015 properties have been refurbished with solid floors, washable decor, ground floor electrics all at high level etc. So for many the post-Ciara activity is mainly washing down and cleaning rather than complete refitting. That said I am sure a lot of stock has been written off and some furnishings and appliances will have to be replaced. And chatting to one cafe owner on Monday he said the flood barriers fitted to his front and back doors had been useless - he could see the water pouring round and under them, despite the rubber seals, and he said that talking to the neighbouring shops, none of their flood doors had worked either.

But you are right, there is a spirit of resilience in the town, and things are getting back to normal.

Its very hard to stop water getting in and you don't get to test the flood defences till its too late. I've lived in two houses in an area prone to spring tide flooding and in old properties water just bubbles up through the ground.  I suspect that the flood barriers should massively slow down the water so that a good pump could stop the level getting to more than a couple of inches, but that's still a lot of clearing up of mud to do.  And then you need a generator as well as the pump, and probably a spare pump, plenty of fuel  etc etc.

 

We were/are in Hebden and watched it all happen, it happens very quickly and the water came in from several directions. It will be very difficult to create flood defences that stop all of the flood routes without wrecking the character of the town. Maybe a big investment in flood proofing all the properties is a better approach?

 

.................Dave

[MtB]

7 hours ago, dmr said:

Its very hard to stop water getting in

 

This.

 

It always seems to me the water WILL get in but the flood barriers slow it down to a manageable rate. So a decent sized sump under the floor would catch it, and a suitably-sized* pump will maintain the sump water level nice and low. Expecting flood barriers to prevent any water ingress is just naïve.

 

* Sizing it is the hard bit, like sizing the bilge pump in a boat. As they say, there is no such thing as a sinking boat, just inadequately large bilge pumps. 

 

 

 

 

[Alway Swilby]

I have heard that the repairs to the Figure of Three locks on the Calder & Hebble are likely to take 12 to 18 months. We'll have to change our plans!

[nb Innisfree]

On 14/02/2020 at 00:26, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

This.

 

It always seems to me the water WILL get in but the flood barriers slow it down to a manageable rate. So a decent sized sump under the floor would catch it, and a suitably-sized* pump will maintain the sump water level nice and low. Expecting flood barriers to prevent any water ingress is just naïve.

 

* Sizing it is the hard bit, like sizing the bilge pump in a boat. As they say, there is no such thing as a sinking boat, just inadequately large bilge pumps. 

+ holding tank and diverter valve to enable upstairs toilet to be used, once all is back to normal slowly drain tank into sewer. 

 

PPPPPP

[David Mack]

2 hours ago, Alway Swilby said:

I have heard that the repairs to the Figure of Three locks on the Calder & Hebble are likely to take 12 to 18 months. We'll have to change our plans!

Lets hope it doesn't take as long to get the Rochdale burst culvert sorted, as a few boaters are going to be stuck otherwise.