Coroner declares 'ongoing risk to life' in street where elderly woman drowned in Storm Babet
Maureen Gilbert lived in Tapton Terrace in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, for her entire life until her death in October 2023. She was one of seven people who died as a result of Storm Babet across the UK.
Friday 5 September 2025 22:18, UK
A coroner has ruled there is an "ongoing risk to life" in the street where an elderly woman drowned in floodwater during Storm Babet two years ago.
Maureen Gilbert lived in Tapton Terrace in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, for her entire life until her death on 21 October 2023.
Firefighters had tried to evacuate her the day before she died - when the River Rother burst its banks and flooded her home - but were unable to reach her despite smashing a window, Chesterfield Coroner's Court heard.
They were due to follow up with another visit on the day she died - but when her son attended the property that morning, he found she had drowned.
On Friday, assistant coroner Matthew Kewley said he would issue a prevention of future death report and was concerned people living on the road are still in danger.
"I'm concerned in the event of another adverse weather event such as Storm Babet, that there is an ongoing risk to life at Tapton Terrace in respect to people who may be elderly, vulnerable or immobile," he said, concluding Mrs Gilbert "died in her home due to drowning in floodwaters caused by Storm Babet".
The inquest heard that Mrs Gilbert slept in her living room on the ground floor due to health conditions but could get upstairs if she needed to.
When the storm broke out, Mr Gilbert visited his mother to put temporary flood defences at the door, move her mattress and kettle upstairs, and check her boiler was working.
Speaking to Paste BN shortly after her death, he explained she had called him that morning to say "water was coming in the house".
It took him seven hours to reach her, but when he arrived, the water was "nearly up to basically my eyes".
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Firefighters from Derbyshire Fire and Rescue attended that evening to try to evacuate her, the inquest heard, but they were unable to get into the house despite smashing through a window and shouting to her.
They arranged for someone to visit again the next day - but the force's control system went down in the storm and the message was not passed on.
Mr Gilbert came instead at around 9.30am and after forcing his way through a window, saw his mother "floating in the water". She was one of seven people who died in Storm Babet across the UK.
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Speaking after the hearing, he said: "The failings of the system going down and messages not being passed on is hard, because if that had have happened and the fire service had have gone in and found my mum, I wouldn't have had to find her which has been one of my biggest nightmares since that day, finding my mum, but systems do go down."
Mr Kewley agreed that had the fire service been able to visit - Mrs Gilbert may still have drowned.
Still no defences due to lack of funding
But Mr Gilbert called for more flood prevention measures to be put in place, after the inquest heard there are still none in place in Tapton Terrace due to a lack of funding.
The coroner was told the "only significant step" made after the River Rother last flooded in 2018 was a storage reservoir being used to reduce peak flow during heavy rainfall.
"It just seems to be shoved back on a shelf and left and then waits for another 15, 16, years until something else happens and then it all gets revisited again," Mr Gilbert said.
"More money does need to be invested in floods, because this is something that obviously is going to keep happening."
Paying tribute to his mother, he described her as "stubborn, opinionated" and someone who "loved Chesterfield" and "loved her grandkids".
Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service deputy chief fire officer Clive Stanbrook said in a statement: "I would like to reiterate our sincere condolences to all of Maureen's family and friends who have lost someone they loved in devastating and distressing circumstances.
"I want to give assurances that we have already learned from this incident, we have invested heavily in our systems and we have made changes to our operational processes, something noted by the coroner."