Holiday park's Christmas flooding leaves family 'on brink of losing everything'

31 December 2023 , 21:19

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Emma Jayne and her fiancé Kev Saunders were evacuated from their caravan park in East Yorkshire (Image: MEN MEDIA)

A young woman claims her family home at a popular caravan park is teetering on the edge of destruction due to severe flooding.

Emma Jayne, 23, who helps manage Greengrass Park near Brandesburton, reveals her home is just "four inches" from being swamped.

The pictures paint a grim picture, showing the caravan park, renowned for its five-star reviews, submerged in waist-deep floodwater and they've been forced to don waders to navigate the area. Emma points out that the menacing floods didn't arrive all of a sudden but have been gradually rising over the past month after a nearby field started filling with water. Despite several visits by workers from the Environment Agency, she emphasises that immediate action is needed to drain the excess water.

The now-overwhelmed site was initially safeguarded by a Bond Wall, a type of flood defence system installed back in 2013. Until this recent catastrophe, it had proven incredibly effective.

"Basically, we've got a field next to us which does tend to fill with water, we have got flood defences next to us, but they are just pumping more water to us," she claimed. "My dad is the owner, me and my fiance and my brother manage it for him. We are nearly losing everything we own, our pub, our clubhouse and our reception office.

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"We had to evacuate everyone the day before yesterday, in the morning. We are the only people who live on-site and we've not got anywhere else to go.

The floodwaters have been gradually rising over the past month (bbc.co.uk)

"We are staying in our home but we have got four inches until the water gets inside. We've been in contact with the Environment Agency multiple times but they have not helped. They are ringing us and we are saying, 'What are you going to do?'"

In just 12 hours, Emma said the flood water had risen by another two inches. She said: "We just want a little bit of help. We want them to work with us. We are constantly trying to fight this water. The water is waist deep in places and we are walking around in waders. It flooded in 2007 but this has got to be so much worse than that."

The water is about waist-deep in some places, Emma said (MEN MEDIA)

The pair are currently staying in their home but say that another four inches and their house will be flooded (MEN MEDIA)

An Environment Agency spokesperson told Hull Live: "The Hempholme Pumping Station which is adjacent to the Green Grass Caravan site is currently in operation to try and reduce water levels and we have been in regular contact with the owners of this site to discuss options for pumping the excess water.

"While we are working to pump as much water as we can, there are challenges with conditions in this location, and in order to effectively pump water away, we need water levels downstream to be lower. We will continue to work to maximise pumping at this location."

Ryan Fahey