Storm Henk – updates

A flood warning sign

After the heavy rains and driving winds of Storm Henk, the localised impact on Lincolnshire is being felt.

Page last updated: 4.45pm Monday 29 January

Property flood resilience grant

Properties flooded by Storm Henk between 2 and 8 January 2024 may be eligible for a grant of up to £5,000 to make their property more resilient to future flooding.

Details of this, and other financial support, is available on the flood resilience grant page.

Road closures

Several roads in the county are currently closed due to flooding. Please check your route before you travel. Here’s the current list of roads effected: 

  • Main Street, Scredington
  • Watermill Lane, Nettleham
  • Wykes Lane

Nottinghamshire County Council also have a number of road closures in place which you can check here.

A lot of these roads are sited at the bottom of the water table in any specific area and are suffering from a huge amount of water run-off from nearby, already soaked, land. 

Under normal weather patterns, that land would act as a soak-away and any issues with flooding on the road could be dealt with by pumping standing water directly into the watercourse. At the moment, the watercourse and surrounding land is so sodden with water that there’s simply nowhere for the water on the roads to be drained to.  

Head of Highways Asset at Lincolnshire County Council, Richard Fenwick said: Our teams have been working tirelessly since the storm hit and will continue to do so. The issues that we recently faced from Storm Babet, which left a lot of the county soaked for many weeks, are now impacting on what we’re dealing with in the wake of Storm Henk.  

“Our officers are on site to be able to assess and direct resources where best needed and we will continue our efforts to help out anywhere we can in order to keep the county moving.” 

We will update this information on the roads closed list on this page as the situation changes. 

Update: Dunham Bridge now fully open 

The route over the Trent is back in action after Thursday's (11 January) partial reopening.  

Dunham Bridge is now fully open to traffic.

The news comes a day after LCC crews managed to get a section of the A57 route passable.  

Yesterday evening was the first time in six days that traffic was allowed across the bridge, albeit in reduced numbers and using a single lane only, because of dropping river levels combined with LCC crews’ temporary barrier building and floodwater pumping. 

Today, a full week since the bridge had to be closed because of the Storm Henk floodwaters, the restrictions have been lifted. The diversion that had been put in place to keep traffic moving whilst avoiding the crossover, has also been removed.  

Traffic volumes across the bridge are now back to normal. There will be no toll on the bridge until 10pm tonight (Friday 12 January). 

For more live information on this and other roadworks, go to: www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/roadworks

If you have been flooded

  • Take photographs of any damage – if it is safe to do so – to provide to your insurance company. 
  • Before you attempt to switch anything back on again, get your electric meter checked by the electricity transmission company and get your fuse box and electrical sockets checked by an electrician. 
  • Before you use gas appliances get a Gas Safe Engineer to check they are safe. 

Be aware of the health effects caused by a flood. When cleaning up wear appropriate clothing and protection as flood water can be contaminated with harmful bacteria. Find further advice for safely cleaning your home after a flood on the Government website. 

The Government has announced financial support and tax relief for flood-hit homes and businesses. More details on how to apply for this funding will be released shortly. 

How to report an issue

If you need to report an issue with roads in your area, visit the Fix My Street website or app.

Published: 3rd January 2024