She can’t face going back to her home after what happened
She can’t face going back to her home after what happened
A woman said she is in ‘disbelief’ after what she was met with when she went downstairs in her home after hearing noises. Catherine Fearnley, 48, who moved into her rented home on Halsall Lane only five months ago told the ECHO how she woke up around 5am last Wednesday to “noises downstairs.”
She said: “I thought someone was in the house. I went downstairs to see what was going on and as I got down the stairs I stepped in ice cold water. I freaked out and ran upstairs.”
Catherine is one of the many victims affected by flooding after homes around the Halsall Lane area of Ormskirk were “destroyed” when heavy rainfall battered the region on New Year’s Eve, causing the Sandy Brook and Hurlston Brook to burst their banks.
She added: “I could hear commotion outside, I thought it was New Year’s parties coming home, was all this water building up and people outside were stuck. I was terrified and in shock. I still feel shocked now and scared, I’m in disbelief. I couldn’t register what was going on, it’s something you see on the news in other places not here, I just ran back upstairs I didn’t know what to do.”
Catherine says the flood water was coming from underneath her home and at least 20 houses in the area had flooded. She recalled people being rescued in boats as five inches of floodwater consumed the downstairs area of her home. She said: “I’ve lost all the things downstairs, furniture, TV, washing machine, everything has been wiped out downstairs, including some things that can’t be replaced.
“I had two boxes of sentimental things, letters and personal items that can’t be replaced. I lost my dad and my boyfriend and I had memory boxes from both of them and sentimental items that have been destroyed. We’re trying to dry the letters and photographs out to see what can be saved, it’s devastating.”
Catherine, who was originally from Ormskirk before moving to Southport for most of her adult life, moved back to the area five months ago to be “closer” to her dad after he sadly died. She told the ECHO: “When he died after a while I just wanted to come back home to Ormskirk because that is where I was with my dad, I wanted to be back closer to the surroundings to what I used to know with him.
“Initially I lived in Ormskirk with my dad. My dad raised me on his own, he was my mum and dad rolled into one and when I lost my dad I decided I wanted to come back to routes. I feel closest to him here. But, now I can’t face going back to that home knowing it could flood again.
Flood water in Catherine’s home
“I’ve been sleeping at different friends’ houses this last week, people have been offering to put me up otherwise I would have no where to go other than a refuge but I need to find somewhere before long. I’ve given my notice in at the house [on Halsall Lane] because I can’t face going back at all.
“I’d done it all up and had it all nice, now everything is in shatters. Sometimes I don’t know what I’m thinking because my head is spinning and now I’ve got to find new accommodation and replace everything.
“I’m just grateful people have been putting me up because I don’t have the money to be booking into hotels at £100, it’s not feasible. And, now I’m going to have to look for somewhere else to live in between having to live out of bags between peoples houses.” A GoFundMe has been set up for Catherine, you can donate here.
