A major incident has been declared for the county by the Lincolnshire Resilience Forum. The local resilience forum was set up to assist in responding to large scale emergencies when a multi-agency response is needed.
The forum declared a major incident for Lincolnshire on Monday afternoon, January 6, following a significant amount of flooding across the county. This includes the River Witham bursting its bank in Grantham and causing homes to be flooded.
The Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service has confirmed that since 4am it has received more than 140 calls on Monday for incidents of flooding, more than 50 of which have related to flooding inside properties. There has also been 14 calls to incidents of stranded drivers in flood water.
In an update on X, formerly Twitter, the Forum stated: “We have declared a major incident in Lincolnshire in response to the adverse weather over the past few days.
“Emergency services have operational responses in place for a number of ongoing incidents including multiple road closures across the county as a result of flooding, and we’re asking that you check the closure notices from Highways before setting off.
People are using sandbags and other items to protect their homes
“Emergency services are also working to get children currently stranded at a school in Edenham home safely. They are safe and well, routes around affected.”
It continues: “We expect to see conditions worsen overnight as surface water ices over and conditions on both treated and untreated roads will be very icy and pose a risk. Please consider if you need to travel, and if you do, drive to conditions.
“This risk extends to footpaths and there is an increased risk of slips, trips and falls. If you will be impacted, the NHS has advice on preparing for cold weather.”
Pedestrians, cyclists and motorists are being urged to stay out of flood water. Lincolnshire Police has also asked people to avoid the Belton Lane area of Grantham due to flood water.
A number of roads across the county have also been impacted by flooding, with motorists urged to check their routes before travelling and to allow additional time for their journeys.