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A year after homes were flooded in Loughborough, Leicestershire, during Storm Henk, locals are facing the same issue once again – and they say they feel ‘abandoned’ by the Prime Minister
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Flood-hit homeowners ‘abandoned’ after being swamped for second time
Furious homeowners say they have been abandoned by the Prime Minister after their properties flooded for a second time in a year.
Sir Keir Starmer criticised the Tories last January during a visit to flood-hit homes in Loughborough, Leicsestershire, following Storm Henk. The Labour leader, who was then in opposition, said the government’s response to flooding was not “good enough”.
In a later letter to residents, Labour MP Jeevun Sandher said he and Sir Keir were “deeply moved” by what they saw on their visit. He said they were “determined to do what we can to stop this happening again”.
But now the same properties have flooded exactly a year later – and locals say they have been “abandoned”. Dozens of homes flooded on Monday night after a nearby canal burst its banks following snow and heavy rain.
Some families fled their homes while others took refuge upstairs, where they became stranded for over 24 hours. Lloyd Booth, 43, said he was still repairing damage from last year’s flood when water surged into his home again.
“We’ve been financially crippled,” said the dad-of-three. “We lost all our furniture, our cupboards, our carpets, we even lost both of the cars. And now it’s happened all over again. Nothing has been done to help us.
“All the authorities blame each other. They don’t dredge the canal, they don’t clear the drains and it’s us who have our lives destroyed. Keir Starmer came here a year ago and promised to help us, and nothing has changed. Where is he now?”
Another local, Duaa Abdulal, said she was stranded upstairs with her mum and hearing-impaired sister for 24 hours. She told the Mirror: “We must have spent over £15,000 repairing all the floors and kitchen and now it needs doing all over again.
“We got a message at 10pm saying not to worry, it doesn’t look like it’s going to flood. But two hours later it was pouring into the front and back of the house from the nearby canal. Thankfully we knew from last year to move everything upstairs.
“Our local MP sent us a letter promising he and Keir Starmer would do things to ensure we weren’t flooded again. Well they’ve let us down.” Jacob Davidge’s £500,000 seven-bed home was destroyed by flood water – just days after he completed repairs from last year’s floods.
The 28-year-old woke in the early hours of the morning to find the seven-bedroom property flooding. He said the 2024 flood ruined the entire downstairs floor – including the kitchen which had only just been renovated.
The floor was finally re-tiled in December 2024 – completing the renovations – only for it to be underwater once again days later. Jacob said: “When I came downstairs in the morning I couldn’t believe it.
“We’ve lived here for over 20 years and never had any issues. Then, twice in one year it’s flooded. It’s bordering on stupidity. It took 11 months to get back to normal, and we’d only been back for one month before this happened again.
“Everything on the ground floor has been affected – electrical sockets, the kitchen, sofas, cupboards, fridges, freezers. It’s all gone. For this to happen once is bad luck, but twice in the same year? It’s ridiculous.
“Not a lot has been done since last year to prevent it from happening again.” It’s incredibly disheartening. You put so much effort into making your home a nice place to live, only to see it destroyed again.”
