23/12/2016 Look North (Yorkshire)

Good evening and welcome to a festive Look North

Tonight we're reflecting on a year in which communities -

just like this one - were brought to their knees

by flooding but somehow found the strength to carry on.

Last December, stormed Desmond Merry Christmas was a wash-out in Hebden

Bridge. -- Christmas was a wash-out in Hebden Bridge. We will be hearing

about how communities have raised funds to protect themselves against

flooding. We'll hear from a woman who is moving back into her house 12

months after the flooding. Also tonight: How Muslims,

Sikhs and Christians have come together in Bradford in Christmas

acts of kindness. And another storm is developing over

Christmas. I'll be back with the forecast.

Good evening from Hebden Bridge town hall.

This is the story of a remarkable community effort.

It's a heart-warming story of recovery with everyone pulling

A fact which was recognised only last week when it was crowned

Let's just remind ourselves what a difficult year it's been.

2016 is a year to forget. We are at the town hall which is now the

community association and we got the community with us tonight. This is

the heart of the recovery effort. It's helped this place get back on

its feet. Let me introduce you to the manager of the town hall and the

Flood warden. Thanks for joining us. We won't have another year like

this, I hope! The start of the year was responding to the floods and my

predecessor was in charge of that and the rest of the year we spent in

our own recovery and in discussion with local authorities about

what happens. What did you think about the community pulling

together? Hebden Bridge has a very good community spirit generally.

There are a lot of things that happen here and everybody pulls

together and response. You have had a busy time as flood

warning, haven't you? We started as flood wardens in 2015, which is when

we suffered horrendous flooding and devastation afterwards. You're

almost like Corporal Jones because we had a situation earlier today

when there was a flood alert, wasn't there? When people get the flood

alerts, I can understand it quite greatly but as soon as they get an

alert from the Environment Agency, they go into a panic and I try to

alleviate the panic buy putting postings on social media and that is

one of the ways we have really been able to get to the community and it

has been very responsive. You've done a tremendous job this year.

This town's fightback is a story that will gladden Eddie -- anyone's

heart. Watermark has been a campaign which

helps local businesses in a way help the community, something which could

be copied across the country. Today, they can reach for the

rafters. But 12 months ago, they had a huge

clean-up job on their hands. It rose until the water had

reached this height. All we could do was make

sure everyone was out. We just got in the following day

and cleaned up, and all of this The team here know full

well the heartache and Now the owners have designed

something new for a scheme that Why would would gin make people more

resilient against flooding? A couple of friends

and I are chemists and have The idea is to give a proportion

of the profits to the watermark fund to the objective

to grow our business and give money back to the watermark fund has

doubled, it too good an opportunity. Businesses around the Calder Valley

are quite literally It is in their interests

because for so many of them, it is almost impossible to get

insured against flooding. For others, it is coffee,

Christmas cards or events. Part or all of the profits

are paid into the fund. It all came from an idea by Chris

who hopes it can be taken Anyone can contribute,

even if there is no chance of them being flooded,

and a lot of people do it just because they want the place

they live to be sustainable a nicer place to live,

so that's what it's The Watermark team are hoping

this winter will be kinder to Calderdale, but if the water does

rise again, they will Well, with us now is

the Conservative MP for the Calder Valley,

Craig Whittaker. The town has for back so well. The

whole Calder Valley has. We seen this in fantastic response from all

the communities. The whole Calder Valley has seen a huge community

effort right across the board. Do you think we're getting enough

money? We just heard on the news recently that London is getting four

times the amount of money for flood defences than the whole of

Yorkshire. Is that good enough? The BBC should come here to the Calder

Valley because we have a ?75 million package, which is fantastic, ?25

million for repairs and 50 million pounds to put flood defences in

place. We are incredibly happy with the Government response. Is it just

a sticking plaster? These are forever moving scenes. We got the

one for the Calder Valley which is up and running from October. Spades

in the ground go in physically after Christmas. All that work is starting

to happen so it is really good news for us. It's wonderful we have had

this community spirit but shouldn't the Government be helping instead of

local businesses having to pay money towards a ?250,000 fund to help a

fellow business? It's not right, is it? We've seen the Government

resource the flood this year which means every household is able to get

flood insurance. The package allows businesses who couldn't get flood

insurance to get it. Is it affordable? It's early days but in

the cases we've seen, that appears to be the case. You must be happy

with this community spirit you've witnessed. Anywhere I go in the

Calder Valley, the community spirit has been and continues to be

fantastic. Thank you very much. We've had lots from Hebden Bridge

and we got a lot more to tell you. Let's hand you back to Amanda

in the studio with the rest A man, a woman and three children

from West Yorkshire have been seriously injured after a collision

between their car and a lorry The accident happened near Watford

Gap at around ten this morning. The southbound carriageway

was closed for several hours. The one-year-old girl and two boys

aged nine and eleven were taken The man and woman,

who are in a critical condition, are being treated

at University Hospital Coventry. The widower of murdered MP Jo Cox

will deliver this year's alternative Mrs Cox was killed in her Bately

and Spen constituency in June. Brendan Cox will call for an end

to the "rise of hatred" The demolition of Scarborough's

Futurist Theatre could cost up to ?4 million, according

to a report out today. The town's council set out plans

for how the seafront building will be knocked down and the cliffs

behind it stablilised. Campaigners have been fighting

a long battle to save the historic theatre, which Flamingoland

want to redevelop as A group of faith leaders

from different religions have gathered together to make Christmas

hampers for refugees. Muslims, Sikhs and Christians

have all been involved Care, compassion and Christmas

dinner - that's what brought these The group Muslim Hands has worked

with local Christian and Sikh communities to make hampers

for Christian refugees Throughout all of our religions,

compassion and helping the needy and service to humanity

is so important. For those new communities coming

here, Bradford as a city just wants The common threads of Christmas

cuisine are all here - potatoes, carrots, mince pies and,

of course, the Brussels sprouts. It's a traditional Christmas dinner

so we are hoping that everybody will know what to do

with the Brussels sprouts. There might be some

curried Brussels sprouts! The hampers are going to refugees

and asylum seekers. This lady came here as a refugee

from the Congo four years ago. The hamper gives her the opportunity

to celebrate her Christian faith. I'm so happy for people

to come to see me. The seasonal goodwill extends,

as these leaders will be serving a meal to those in need on Christmas

Day. Those are your main stories

in brief, let's go back to Harry 2,000 homes in Calderdale were

flooded by the Boxing Day storm. Incredibly some people have only

just moved back home. We've got a story about these

people. Ali Fortescue's been to meet one

pensioner who's spent the last year in hotels and care homes and a young

mum who's had to sofa surf It's just been a relentless,

long process to be honest. Packing up her life for the fifth

time this year, Stephanie has been living out of a suitcase

with their eight-year-old daughter since her home

flooded last December. I've been living at my

mother-in-law's, my Now, 12 months on, she finally has

a date to move home. Stephanie woke up on Boxing Day

to find rising water Just a few doors down,

and 83-year-old Sheila was having She's been in hotels and care homes

since and now finally has the keys I'm just glad to be back

and people are coming back. I missed my neighbours

and they missed me. Here in this town devastated

by last year's floods, work is still being done to help

people like Sheila and Stephanie. One year on and they may be moving

back home but there's still a to do For Stephanie, rebuilding

her life starts now. She has the keys back to her flat

and she hopes the New Year will mean a new start and time to forget

the year that was 2016 for people They say that the hallmark of any

community is the way it Until Boxing Day, Matthew Ellison

was a car mechanic in Hebden Bridge but when he saw the high street

under water, he decided to design some ingenious ways

to protect it in the future. From the moment I saw

the devastation, I just decided We can't lose people's

livelihoods like this. I looked up at the shop sign

and thought, that would make a perfect floodgate,

so I started sketching a a few ideas It's just a case of

sorting out a few seals. That will protect the bottom

of the door that protects the top I also ended up doing an awful

lot of extra fitting, rebuilding bookcases,

converting the cases we can use We did a shop fitting up the road

at the jewellers so all the shops They are having floodgates made

for the doors of various descriptions because every

shop is different. There has been a big

friendship built up Seeing how it has affected them,

I just don't want it How bad was it and how much do you

all to this guy? -- owe. We owe everything to him, we have floods or

five feet high in the shop but he was on hand and has done so much

work in the shop for us. One lesson we really learned is that resilience

is about the physical stuff in the shop but also about knowing you've

got people in the community of fellow shopkeepers. All sorts of

people who are there in the community to help you. I just

couldn't see my town go downhill so you just have to do something, you

can stand idly by and let this thing go on. -- you can't. I'm still a car

mechanic, I'll always be a mechanic! It's been very emotional for you.

We've had a very emotional and stressful year, my staff and other

businesses in the town. 12 months on, it's still a difficult time,

even very recently when the sirens went off. Yes, it's always at the

back of your mind, mother nature is in charge, so we have to be aware of

that. The other Monday when the flood alert came through on the

flooding that imminent, we had to put our little plan in place. We did

a little practice run. I don't want to do another. Let's hope you don't

have to. For those who've been lucky enough

to get back into their houses there's still the question

of what if it happens again? Hebden Bridge has been flooded

no less than 15 times Perhaps the residents

here could learn from one couple in York who've taken radical steps

to flood-proof their home. The fixtures and fittings

in this riverside property in York are bespoke,

waterproof and portable. Doors simply lift off hinges,

fireplaces are removable, kitchen units slide

out and downstairs, Jackie and David's house has flooded

12 times in ten years. It didn't really faze us that

much because we knew This is the view from their bedroom

window and on a normal day, it is a stunning outlook,

but last year, the water rose to just below the sign on the lamp

post and caused extensive damage So bad that they had to move

out for seven months. Now that walls are tiled,

even in the lounge, the electrics on above the level and fire

surrounds can be moved upstairs. Of course, the kitchen

is our pride and joy, If we decide to lift

everything in the kitchen, within half an hour,

we can have everything stripped out. They are self-sufficient,

but Jackie does have a contact at the council who sends down help

with lifting the sofas. She rings him and within about ten

or 15 minutes, too big, burly council workers come,

lift the furniture and Living so close to the river

instils a can-do attitude. They go so far as to

say they're lucky. We have ample warning,

we can actually see Once the water has dropped below

the level of the floor, within two or three hours,

we can swill it out, clean water, All set to enjoy a riverside

lifestyle once again. Let's see what the weather prospects

are. Because of the stormy weather,

people are nervous about Christmas. It is very different to last year

when we had a really wet December. As you saw today, the rain flew

through and after Sunday's rain, we got another band of rain which could

bring heavy rain for a short time, it is then going to be fine for the

rest of the Christmas week. Christmas Eve is a blustery day with

sunshine but some showers mainly across north and West Yorkshire and

then Sunday, Christmas Day, another storm will affect the UK, Storm

Connor. It is the wind rather than rain we are concerned about but

there will be rain later on Christmas Day and we are looking at

Gales developing. This was the radar from early. We had a gust of 70

miles an hour and it will continue to be very breezy and winding

overnight although perhaps not as windy as when that cold front went

through. Clear spells and showers overnight with temperatures down to

about three or four Celsius in rural areas. A other times of high water

and sunrise. Tomorrow will be a bright day. There will be showers

being blown through on that gusty breeze, perhaps wintry over the

gales at first -- Yorkshire Dales at first. They will be sunshine for all

in between the showers. It will be windy and it will feel cooler than

today with temperatures in single figures around seven or eight

Celsius. Further ahead to Christmas Day, very mild indeed. It will be

cloudy and gales will develop through the day and it will be later

on in the day. We'll have a band of heavy rain, Gales and bright and

breezy on Monday but quietening down and perhaps for the next week.

We're going to leave you with the children

of Burnley Road School and the Yorkshire Imps.

From all of us, have a very Merry Christmas. Good night.

Christmas is about family. I'll have that.