Derbyshire Dales council pays out £96,500 in Storm Babet flood relief grants

As part of the clean-up operation, the council was responsible for administering payments from the Government-financed national Flood Recovery Framework.

With all the necessary accounting and paperwork now complete the Dales authority is reporting 63 payments totalling £31,500 were distributed direct to residents, and 26 more totalling £65,000 to local businesses.

Flooded households in affected areas were eligible to apply for up to £500 to help with immediate costs and Council Tax discount for a minimum of three months, while businesses could receive up to £2,500 are relate relief.

According to reports, Storm Babet amounted to the third-wettest three-day period in England and Wales since 1891, with more rain falling in the Midlands in four days than in a whole average month.

While prevention measures proved mostly effective in Matlock’s regular high-risk areas, other parts of the Dales required rapid evacuations as authorities declared a major incident.

District staff distributed more than 2,500 sandbags, working through the night to help protect properties under threat of floodwater in extremely challenging conditions.

Last week officials at meeting hosted by Derbyshire County Council told how Storm Babet caused more than £1.3million in damage to bridges, roads and culverts across the county, and that 1,675 properties and businesses had been flooded.

Much like the £20m of damage caused by storms in 2019, the county council said it would receive no new funding for infrastructure repairs and new flood defence works.

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