Defiant shopkeepers battle on to the next crisis after Storm Ciara

COMMUNITY SPIRIT is not in short supply in the Calder Valley, as traders who have responded to devastating flooding have illustrated.

Hebden Bridge – together with other towns and villages up and down the valley – was hit by surges which left homes and livelihoods deep under water.

Seven weeks on - and before coronavirus restrictions struck - much of the damage is mended. The majority of shops in Hebden Bridge opened for business just weeks after a major clear-up operation began in the aftermath of Storm Ciara.

Traders believe the fighting spirit they have had to adopt in recent years due to

The Willow Garden florists, on New Road, has been one of the Hebden Bridge businesses hit hardest by recent events. Storm Ciara struck just as staff were gearing up for St Valentine’s Day.

Jane Barber, a florist at The Willow Garden, said: “The shop was three feet under water just two days before Valentine’s

Day. We had no choice but to just carry on because we had ordered all our flowers from Holland.

“The clean-up is still going on – the tide mark is still around the walls – but we have managed to keep going.

“The support and help we have had from volunteers and complete strangers has been brilliant. It has been a devastating time. But we are used to it and we carry on.”

The area was devastated by flooding on Boxing Day 2015 and millions of pounds were invested in flood defences.

However, some of those, including a £30m scheme in Mytholmroyd, are not due to be completed until the summer.

The Government’s response to last month’s flooding was initially criticised, even by those in the Conservative Party, with calls to convene a Cobra meeting ignored.

The Prime Minister Boris Johnson refused to visit flood-hit communities, claiming he had been advised he would get in the way.

However Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick announced homes and businesses could apply for up to £5,000 to help make them more resilient to future flooding.

Businesses were told they were able to claim for up to £2,500 and 100 per cent business rates relief.

The Calder Valley was inundated once again when storm Ciara brought heavy rain and winds of more than 90mph during the second week of February. Sirens were sounded in the market towns of Todmorden and Hebden Bridge where high street shops were under water within hours. Across West Yorkshire, the fire service attended 106 incidents during a sixhour period and received 671 emergency calls. AFTER THE FLOODS: Clockwise from left, florist Jane Barber at The Willow Garden Flower Shop praised the help of volunteers; Alison Bartram, chair of Hebden Bridge Business Forum; over 80 per cent of traders had reopened before COVID-19 struck PICTURES: Tony Johnson