Syston Flood Wardens
Not just for floods
Just over 24 hours after the recent flooding in Syston, the flood wardens were back in action—this time, assisting Leicestershire Police with the search for a missing elderly woman on January 7th.
Our team quickly mobilised and began checking key areas across Syston. Within two hours, we were informed that she had been located.
Close call
(this was written back in December 2024)
Even at 2am, you can count on your flood wardens to be ready to spring into action, no matter the hour. This is exactly what we were up to while most of Syston was sleeping soundly, just days before Christmas.
Unless you follow us on Facebook, you may not know that Syston came alarmingly close to flooding again.
On December 19th, heavy rain in Leicestershire caused the brook level to rise quickly. Thanks to the gauge installed by the Environment Agency earlier in the year, we were able to closely monitor the situation. But as the brook continued to rise, we knew this was going to be an eventful, sleepless night.
At 2am, the brook reached a critical level, prompting us to activate our response. While the water rose close to the point it had breached in October (0.80 meters), this time the situation was different. Although the gauge continued to rise, the brook barely overflowed. We quickly notified residents (apologies if we woke you!) to give them time to move vehicles.
Thankfully, the water never reached the pavement on the park-side of Brookside and didn’t come up through the drains. The highest reading on the gauge was 0.89 meters. The work the Environment Agency did to clean up the brook made a significant difference. Compared to the previous flood event in October, when it took less water to cause serious flooding, this time it only resulted in a small puddle on Brookside that didn’t even make it halfway across the road, and a puddle outside the Dog and Gun.
By 5am, the water level had started to drop, and we stood down. By the time most people were waking up, the threat had passed, and they likely had no idea how close we came to another flood that night.
Phone number changes
In the near future, the four individual phone numbers currently listed for the flood wardens in the Green Pages will be consolidated into a single contact number. This new number will provide a streamlined and efficient way to reach your flood wardens at any time. The updated contact information will be published in the next issue of Syston Town News, and a leaflet will be distributed to the areas of Syston most prone to flooding.
Syston Flood Wardens (SFW) Update
I had hoped to start this update by celebrating the fact that we passed the anniversary of the January 2024 floods without experiencing a repeat incident. Unfortunately, nature had other plans.
Please note that some parts of this update were written in December, before the January 2025 flooding, so the tone between sections may vary slightly.
6th January 2025 (written 08/01/25)
=/… There’s not much more I can say, given how many people have been affected once again. For some, this was their first experience with flooding, while for others it was their second, third, or more.
I offer my heartfelt sympathies to both residents and businesses that were flooded. I also want to apologise to anyone who tried to get in touch with us but didn’t receive a timely response. One of our flood wardens received over 90 calls and messages by the end of Monday.
On January 11th, the Sileby Flood Wardens shared a post on Facebook expressing that they felt they had let their community down. Honestly, we feel the same. We feel we’ve let Syston and its community down. It’s hard not to feel like we could have done more or tried harder. The flood wardens were awake before dawn, with one of our flood wardens awake for an exhausting 31 hours.
So, what happened?
From the night of January 5th to the early hours of January 6th, heavy rain fell throughout the night, compounded by a frozen layer, already saturated ground, and snow. This resulted in the water levels in the brook rising slowly but steadily, though not as quickly as on December 19th.
By 5am, we began mobilising. When we arrived at Brookside, the brook had already burst its bank outside the Working Men’s Club and was 50% across the road. A large puddle had also formed outside the Dog and Gun. We immediately began notifying residents to move their vehicles. Within 15 to 30 minutes, we were already soaked through.
On College Road and University Close, one team of flood wardens attempted to wake residents as the water from the brook slowly started to come up through the drains on the street. The cold temperatures and snow only made matters worse as the puddles grew and began to flood homes.
Other flood wardens were assisting residents on Brookfield Avenue, while others worked to arrange sandbag collections and deliveries.
At the time of writing, it’s still early days. As a team, we will reflect on both our successes and shortcomings in order to learn and improve for the next time we face such a challenge. We are committed to doing better and supporting our community in every way we can.
