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| Monday | |
| We are expecting t be flooded. Me and my husband Benjamin, who is 73, have seen the news, and we know that the river is rising at Shrewsbury; and that we've only got 48 hours for it to get down to us. We were flooded two years ago, but up until then we hadn't been flooded for 33 years. We've lived here 43 years, the house is 400 years old and it's on the quay-side. It wasn't as bad in 1998 as this week - we could leave the house then. We get in some tinned food, bread, butter, bananas and lots of cheese, and start moving a few things upstairs. | |
| Tuesday | |
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We move all of the books out of the bookshelves. We've got over 300, and trundle them upstairs. It takes about three hours because we have to move other things out to put them in and stack everything up. We're feeling very philosophical about it really. We know it's coming and there is nothing we can do about it. My son-in-law comes round in the evening and we put the furniture up on to pallets about 4ft 6ins high. We can't save the carpets, because they're fitted. We take everything else - the radios and televisions -upstairs. I go to bed hoping it won't come. Perhaps they're wrong. |
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| Wednesday | |
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At 4.45am our next door neighbours start their pump, which wakes us up. I go down stairs to take a look out of the window because my grandson wants me to phone him to tell him how high the water is. I get my feet wet in the lounge - the water's already coming in. I feel a bit grim about it, but these things happen. I tell my husband. We go into the kitchen and put our fridge/freezer up on bricks, and move everything else out of the downstairs rooms. We put the paperwork from the back room right up into the attic. It takes about five hours. My son-in-law comes round and puts breeze blocks and planks down so we can walk around downstairs. We retire upstairs and decide: "That's it, we can't move again'" The water has risen right over the breeze blocks and the planks, and we're stuck. It's about 2ft 6ins deep. The furniture on the pallets is still dry though. I go to bed hoping that the cooker; washing machine and fridge are safe, and that the water won't get to the furniture. |
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| Thursday | |
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I wake up to find the fridge on its side, and the washing machine and cooker both half full of water. The water is now 3ft deep in the lounge and kitchen, and 2ft 6ins in the back room. Our two gas fires are also underwater. I'm not very happy. We spend the day upstairs trying to read books. I usually read a lot, but I don't seem to ready anything. I just can't settle down to it. I keep going to the top of the stairs and look down to see where the water is. We have cheese sandwiches and rice pudding. We've got the microwave upstairs, so at least the rice pudding is warm. We sit and talk about the flood. We don't normally watch television a lot, but we watch all the news to find out more information. We see our house on it. I go to bed hoping it will end tomorrow. The peak has come so we are hopeful. |
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| Friday | |
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We wake up at 7am and peer downstairs. I can see the water's going down slightly. I get dressed and have breakfast - cheese rolls again. We have rice pudding for lunch. I'd been hoping the water would run off quickly, but it doesn't seem to be. I don't know what is happening to the phone. It was working for a time, but not today. But we have got a mobile. The water has dropped by about 18ins and I manage to get out of the house. I report that the phone is not working and get some more rolls, a newspaper and boiled ham. We spend the day upstairs. Tomorrow hopefully we will go downstairs and hose it all out. After the flood of '98 we had a new kitchen - the cupboards are full of mud. But I always look on the bright side. I might think "I could have done without this," but we love the house, and the view; and we are very happy here. We shan't move. Hopefully we are insured. My husband just said to me not long ago: "Did you pay the insurance this year?" I said: "I'm pretty sure I did". I just hope I didn't make a mistake. I'll be scrabbling around, looking for the paperwork. |
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