Yorkshire's flooded communities still counting the cost six months on from February deluge

  • Video report by Katie Oscroft

Six months on from the wettest February on record many homes and businesses in our region are still counting the cost of severe flooding.

Storm Ciara followed by Storm Dennis and Jorge saw heavy rain fall on already saturated ground in the Calder Valley in West Yorkshire.

Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd were badly hit and had barely recovered from the floods of Boxing Day 2015.

Flood defences being built in the wake of the last floods were not complete.

Rescue workers in the flooded town of Snaith in East Yorkshire after the River Aire burst its banks Credit: Press Association

Just over two weeks later the build up of water from the rivers Aire and Calder overtopped flood plains in East Yorkshire and many homes in Snaith and East Cowick were flooded.

The Environment Agency says millions of pounds are being spent on flood defences and is waiting for an inquiry carried out by East Yorkshire Council to be completed.

The village of Mytholmroyd in the Calder Valley under water

In Mytholmroyd a new bridge has been built over the river which will help prevent a repeat of February's deluge.

Environmental expert John Grant from Sheffield Hallam University says new housing development should be subject to laws which make it compulsory to take into account the risk of flooding.

He points to a new estate at Waverley in Sheffield where a man-made lake has been constructed to drain away excess water and prevent flooding further downstream.