‘I can’t spend another five years in my caravan’

Lavina Raywood’s home in Stainforth has flooded for the second time in five years

BBC/Simon Thake A woman with blonde hair stands in green wellies in flooded water. — Lavina Raywood’s home in Stainforth has flooded for the second time in five years

A woman from Doncaster has spoken of her “heartbreak” after her house flooded for the second time in five years.

Lavina Raywood had only moved back into her property in Stainforth just before Christmas, having lived with her daughters in a static caravan in the garden since flooding devastated the home in 2019.

The latest flooding saw melted snow and heavy rainfall cause a dyke in front of Ms Raywood’s property to overflow.

Ms Raywood, 49, told the BBC: “I’d just managed to get myself round and have my first Christmas in this house in five years and now it’s all gone again.”

Melted snow and heavy rain caused a dyke near the property to overflow

BBC/Simon Thake Floodwater surrounds a house with sandbags piled up at the door. A wheelie bin is tipped over on its side in the garden. — Melted snow and heavy rain caused a dyke near the property to overflow

The house that Ms Raywood purchased with her late husband Frazer, who died in 2022, was originally flooded in 2019 along with a number of other properties in Doncaster.

The family took the decision to pay for extra renovations to try to prevent it happening again.

Ms Raywood said: “The water came up to our knees in the house back then so we raised the floors by a foot.

“I’ve put in underfloor heating too.

“It’s taken years to do it properly but the water still came in last night.

“I’d only just had the carpets down three weeks so I ripped them up. I wasn’t going to let them get damaged.

“The water got into the plasterboard and the kitchen which I’ve only cooked one dinner in.”

The property is one of three affected by flooding off Station Road, behind Doncaster Greyhound Stadium.

Ms Raywood and her daughters had just started moving back into the house when the flooding happened

Simon Thake A front room with no carpet. A decorating table stands in the middle of the room and boxes are piled up in one corner. — Ms Raywood and her daughters had just started moving back into the house when the flooding happened

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service confirmed that five fire crews had attended Station Road in Stainforth after a call was received at 12:27 GMT about rising water levels.

The crew pumped water away into a nearby storm drain until the water level had reduced.

Ms Raywood has no doubts about the reason for the flooding risk.

She said: “The dyke is just not designed for the amount of rainwater that it takes.

“Whenever it rains or if it snows, the water has to go somewhere.”

The BBC has approached Doncaster Council and the Environment Agency for comment.

The single mum and her two daughters have been living in a static caravan in their garden since flooding in 2019

BBC/Simon Thake A static caravan stands surrounded by ice and flood water. — The single mum and her two daughters have been living in a static caravan in their garden since flooding in 2019

The immediate plans for Ms Raywood and her two daughters are to speak with their insurance company and return to the caravan, but she said it could not be a “long- term” solution.

“This is heartbreaking,” she said.

“I don’t want to go for the next five years living out of my home again.”

Despite the flood risk, the family has no immediate plans to leave the property.

Ms Raywood said: “It’s Catch-22. I can’t afford to move.

“Nobody would want to buy the house. I love it but I can’t keep going through this.”

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