The BV magazine, November ‘23
NEWS
by Rachael Rowe
Flash flooding devastates Sherborne’s Old Yarn Mill
Businesses in Sherborne’s old Yarn Mill face uncertain future after devastating floods, but the community rallies to support recovery efforts ‘I think I have lost my business. How do you recover from something like this?’ When a torrent of water swept down Sherborne’s Ottery Lane on the A352, the impromptu river devastated businesses in the Old Yarn Mill Business Centre. Lee Steele has run LS Flooring for 25 years and it was his unit which bore the brunt of the deluge on 28th October: ‘The back doors to my business just couldn’t hold up against the water that poured through the building. To start, I was ankle deep ... before I knew it the doors blew off and I was up to my hips in floodwater. ‘All the carpet samples and equipment have been ruined and had to go to the tip. I’ve lost around £30,000 of stock. Because there has been a flood before, the insurance won’t pay out. We’ve had floods three times in the last 18 months – before that just once in the previous 25 years. To be honest, I don’t think it’s sunk in yet.’ Hannah Wilkins from Vineyards was also affected by the flooding. ‘We have never had flooding like this before. Although our back doors are three feet above the ground, passing cars caused bow waves, making the water higher and it just kept washing in. With all the roads above us and the concrete, this run off had nowhere to go. ‘The last time the drains had been cleared by the council was 12 months ago, so there was a lot of build up of silt and leaves. ‘Lee’s business became a river and water flowed from his into everyone else’s. The drains in the car park were unable to 4
The devastation left behind in the LS Flooring unit – Lee Steele estimates there’s £30,000 of damage
