Cranfield community comes together during the recent flooding

Residents of local Bedfordshire village, Cranfield, showed tremendous community spirit recently to try and combat the recent flooding of their village. Torrential downpours saw unprecedented levels of rain, causing significant damage to local homes and businesses whilst also shutting down many local roads such as the much publicised A421.

In heartbreaking scenes, locals were frantically trying to disperse water from their homes in attempts to save their possessions. Some were even advised to leave their homes behind due to high risks of severe flooding. Sunday night saw nearly 50 locals in the local high street using anything they could get their hands on to help clear water away from the houses and businesses either side of the road as the drains overflowed. Hundreds of sand bags were laid at front and back doors and makeshift barriers were erected in a vain attempt to keep the water at bay throughout the night.

Many residents offered support to those affected by offering places to stay, and even clothing to those who needed it. Local businesses pulled together to offer free refreshments and a dry space to recharge batteries

One of these businesses, One Group Services even brought a drainage tanker truck into the village early on Monday morning to work on the drains in the high street.

Owner, Adam Crook, said: "Cranfield has been my home for over 40 years and is where we have based our business so we couldn't sit by and do nothing. We pumped over 2000 litres of muck out of the drains in the high street but it really needs looking at. We are submitting a full report of our findings to the local council because the drainage we have is not fit to cope with large amounts of rainfall anymore. This will happen again unfortunately if nothing is done".

Another local, John Smythe said: "I got stranded at the other end of the village overnight and walked through the village to get home. It was incredibly moving to see so many people helping each other out. It looked like something out of a war zone!"

Local Councillor, Sue Clarke has called a meeting at the local community centre on Wednesday 2nd October at 7.30pm. She writes: "I am so sorry about the terrible events of Sunday night and I’m appalled that so many homes have been flooded again, especially as many of the homes affected were flooded in 2016. This time made worse by even heavier rain, the unbelievable flooding on the A421 and the diverted traffic through the village.

"I am trying to gather evidence from everyone who was flooded or had a near miss so that I have a complete and clear understanding of exactly what happened, so I can robustly challenge the Council.

"Last time, in 2016, I did get some improvements including a commitment to regular drain clearance. Very clearly the drains were not coping on Sunday. They were full of debris and some are blocked. It is also clear that additional measures are needed to prevent further flooding, and these vary depending on where the flooding occurred.

"If you are affected by the flooding, please come to a meeting next Wednesday night, October 2nd in the meeting room at the Community Centre. I can’t offer any solutions at this stage, but I would love to hear from you and hear what you have experienced and your observations.

The Council say they will be carrying out a full lessons learnt review."