Payments will start to be made this week to residents whose properties were flooded in the recent storm.
There are around 180 homes across the borough which have been flooded, and so are eligible for these payments. Most of these are in Catcliffe, which was the worst hit area following last week’s Storm Babet.
On the back of this, Rotherham Council last week announced it would be giving a grant of £350 to all households that had been flooded.
A further £150 grant will be made to these same households following the council’s £20k contribution to the South Yorkshire Community Foundation appeal.
This will see all flooded households across the borough given a total of £500 in grants to help support them in the immediacy.
Where householders are already paying their council tax by direct debit, this grant will automatically be paid into their bank accounts. This could be as early as this week.
Those who do not pay via direct debit are being encouraged to contact the council with their details through the web here, so this grant can go into their banks, once their account is verified.
These same residents will not need to pay council tax on their flooded properties from the period October 21 (when the flooding happened), until at least March 31 next year. For people who pay the full level of council tax, they will see a saving of at least £500 on council tax payments per household.
A national funding scheme was also announced by the Government last week, which would entitle flooded households to a further £500. The council is waiting for further details to be released from the Government on this scheme and will update residents accordingly.
In total this equates to £1,500 per flooded household in funding.
Council Leader, Councillor Chris Read, said: “Our hearts go out to everyone impacted by the flooding, which is why we want to be able to do what we can as soon as we can to help people in the immediate aftermath.
“I have witnessed myself the devastation and emotional toll this has had on our residents across Rotherham, and in particular in Catcliffe. The heartbreak of seeing families throwing away much treasured possessions which are beyond repair after being covered in filthy flood water, is hard to witness. It is these kinds of objects which can never be replaced which really hit home to me the emotional damage flooding does.
“Our staff will continue to be in the Catcliffe area this week to help anyone who needs it, whether this relates to housing issues, clearing waste, or helping to chuck out damaged goods.
“Our voluntary sector is also out in force in the area across the week, offering support both emotionally and physically, plus advice where it is needed.”
He added once further details have been released from the Government around its funding scheme, the council will make sure those residents are communicated with directly, so everyone gets what they are entitled to.
An investigation into the cause of the flooding is currently being undertaken working with the Environment Agency, who are the lead authority on flooding for the Government.
“While it is still too early to know exactly why this happened,” added Councillor Read. “I do want to reassure residents that we are pushing for answers sooner rather than later so we can understand what went wrong here, and how this can be fixed.”
The South Yorkshire Community Foundation, working in partnership with the council, has set up a JustGiving page, which can be found here, for anyone wishing to donate to help local residents impacted by the flooding.
