Volunteers stepped in to help protect homes from flooding in Brading after heavy rainfall left several properties at risk earlier this week.
The downpours, which began on Sunday and continued into Monday, caused water levels to rise around Nicholas Close, where at least one home was already flooded and 4 others were threatened.
Green Party town councillor for Brading, Paul Garratt, attended the scene after being alerted to the situation. He arranged for a tonne of sand and 50 sandbags to be supplied by Jewson in Sandown and appealed on Facebook for volunteers to help. He also contacted Greenpeace Isle of Wight for assistance.
Soon, the sand and bags were delivered, along with a further 50 sandbags provided by Southern Water. Volunteers from Greenpeace Isle of Wight and local residents who had responded online worked together to fill the bags and build barriers around homes and along the road.
Stephanie Elliott, Greenpeace Isle of Wight lead, has said:
“I responded because I thought, if that happened to me, I would be grateful for the help.
“But driving through, I did think what use can I be and thought there would be a group of hefty men there, some sort of emergency response. There wasn’t anything like that.
“It was in a cul-de-sac of elderly residents and there were only 5 of us there.
Article continues below this advertisement “Also what should have been a 5 minute journey took a good half an hour with all the flooding and road closures.”
Greenpeace volunteer Jeff Drake said residents had struggled to access official support:
“The residents of Nicholas Close told us they were unable to get help from Island Roads with sandbags.
“I saw no other support being offered. There was a small sandbag wall already there that had proved inadequate.
“Another resident asked if we could help put sandbags around part of their house to protect it which we were able to do.
“The sandbags were very heavy and when filled, they were too heavy for most people to lift and move.”
Councillor Garratt said the flooding was particularly distressing for one household affected, which has been recently highlighted by Island Echo.
It’s a disgrace Island Roads didn’t help.
Climate change affects vulnerable communities the most.