Paul Gilbert discovered his 83-year-old mum had died in flooding caused by Storm Babet after firefighters did not recheck her property in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, an inquest heard
A devastated son discovered his elderly mum had drowned in floods caused by one of the worst storms on record after the fire service did not check her home the morning after it was unable to rescue her, an inquest heard.
Maureen Gilbert died when Storm Babet, the worst weather system of 2023, struck northern Europe, causing major damage and flooding across the UK. Mrs Gilbert, 83, was discovered floating in five-foot-high flood waters by Paul Gilbert at her home in Tapton Terrace, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, on October 21 after the River Rother burst its banks and flooded her house.
An inquest at Chesterfield Coroner’s Court was told firefighters did not return to her property following a recheck request, with Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service admitting they “fell short”.
The inquest heard Mrs Gilbert’s home was “mislogged” while the service’s control room systems were down. She was one of at least seven people who died as a result of Storm Babet, which caused disruption across the UK. The inquest heard the fire service did everything it could to reach Mrs Gilbert at her terraced property on the evening of October 20.
But firefighters did not make it to the address, with the service later saying their paths were obstructed by wheelie bins and fence panels floating in the water.
Neil Porteous, an incident commander for the fire service, said: “It was massive amounts of water. The front gardens were completely underwater. It was a difficult scene to look at. Numerous wheelie bins just floating on top of the water. Loads of debris floating. Manhole covers had lifted as well.”
Mr Porteous said the crew knew Mrs Gilbert was inside the property because her son had spoken to her on the phone but then lost contact. He said: “It was just a very, very difficult scene. We had done everything we could possibly do.
“We don’t like to leave people behind. It was just too dangerous – it was getting too dark. The crew said ‘Can we go in?’ and at that point I had to stop them and explain why, and they understood.”
At 7.22pm, the rescue crew left the scene at Tapton Terrace and Mr Porteous made the request for a reinspection the next day. This was “not communicated the next morning”, Mr Porteous said. Clive Stanbrook, who was an area manager for the fire service, told the inquest on Tuesday: “This had clearly not been handed over to the next shift the next day.
“We should have gone back in the morning. We fell short.” Parts of the control room system had “completely failed” on October 20 when the request to check on Mrs Gilbert was made, the inquest heard.
Mr Gilbert said it was “disappointing” that he was left to discover his mother himself on the morning of October 21.
The inquest will continue on Wednesday morning.
