Storm Christoph: Residents in Didsbury “left with no choice” but to evacuate

Residents said they were “left with no choice” but to flee their homes as
major flooding hit parts of northwest England and Wales.

About 2,000 properties in Greater Manchester were evacuated as Storm Christoph brought flooding and heavy snow.

Householders in Didsbury in South Manchester told Sky News how they were instructed to evacuate overnight by emergency services, with many worried about what will remain of their homes when they return.

Entire village being evacuated amid severe flood warnings – follow live updates

Tyra Desir, 20, and Reece Green, 23, were bought to an evacuation centre in South Manchester on Wednesday night.

The friends had been staying in temporary accommodation in a nearby hostel, and were evacuated with several other residents about 5am.

“We don’t know what’s going to be there when we get back,” Mr Green told Sky News’ north of England correspondent, Katerina Vittozzi.

“We don’t even know when we can go back – if it’s even open.”

Miss Desir said: “When we left we could see more snow, than rain. They just said we had to go, so they put us in a taxi to come here.

“It wasn’t very busy, it was quite quiet actually but I don’t think any of us got much sleep.”

Mr Green who went into the hostel after becoming homeless, says he’s now worried about the next few weeks.

“We get to stay in the hostel for eight weeks, and I’ve just got private accommodation sorted to move into. But there is still a lot to arrange and the people in the hostel are meant to be helping me with that.

“But if it’s closed because of flooding, what’s going to happen to that?”

However, some residents of Didsbury decided to stay at home despite being told to evacuate.

Last night Paul Smart’s property, which is close to the River Mersey in the town, was just centimetres away from overflowing.

He said: “As a street, we had a few neighbours who volunteered to monitor the river, every hour.

“And that went from about 8pm, right through the night and we made our own decision on that.”

He added: “I felt like we were getting some mixed messages from the council and police – some were saying to evacuate, others saying get ready in case, so we made our call based on what we could see.”

Mr Smart said some people decided to leave, “especially the elderly or people here with young kids”, but he stayed because he “felt a bit more confident about it”.

Hospital worker Elliot Heward says he “didn’t have much of a choice” but to evacuate, as he is a doctor on call so being stuck at home would have prevented him from getting to the hospital.

“It’s pretty difficult and I’m very tired at the minute,” he said, but he added that he felt “relieved” and “fortunate” to later discover his home was undamaged.

(c) Sky News 2021: Storm Christoph: Residents in Didsbury “left with no choice” but to evacuate