Marlow: Residents react to flooding from Storm Henk

With cold and icy spells expected to set in over the coming days, many areas including Marlow remain waterlogged, with flood warnings for the Thames-side town still in place as of 2:29pm yesterday (January 9).

Low-lying ground and areas prone to groundwater flooding were especially vulnerable and a quick survey of the area shows the continued presence of large water expanses and emergency flood protection measures across the town, in what some believe is on par with the destructive flooding that took place 10 years ago in early 2014.

The flood of 2014 saw the River Thames reach its highest level since 2003, with many residents forced to evacuate their properties and Higginson Park closed off after becoming deluged with water. While the impact on the town in recent days has not reached such extremes, some residents nevertheless believe that it is equal to, or worse than the devastation seen a decade ago.

Peter Lowthian, who lives on Victoria Road in a raised property that has not faced any flooding issues, told the Free Press that he thought the recent flooding was “worse than in 2014”, adding that a reactionary £9.5 million flood defence scheme, put in place by Buckinghamshire Council in 2019, was only “pushing the water further downstream”.

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He added: “I don’t remember the road to Cookham being closed back then, and it seems to me that (the recent flooding) is affecting a different part of the town. It’s worth remembering, too, that in 2014, the flood water all ebbed away then came back again the next month.”

Tom Perry, who lives on Mill Road and has seen many of his neighbours’ properties flooded over recent days, said he was fairly confident the water levels wouldn’t rise far enough to impact his house, which is also on high ground.

“The key thing is that there is no underground watercourse under our land. Two doors up, they’ve got a watercourse right beneath their lawn and it’s been completely flooded.”

Mr Perry said he believed the flooding to be less impactful than its 2014 equivalent, adding: “On this occasion, the water we have seen has come from below the weir on Marlow Lock, from Longridge. In 2014, the water level was high enough to be above the weir as well.”

Residents who live on St Peter Street, where a flooded slipway resulted in the closure of The Two Brewers Pub on Friday, are continuing to line their doorways with barricading sandbags in preparation for any further damage, with one person expressing relief that while the water had “come very close” to broaching entry, quick pumping work had offset the flow.

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: "Recent prolonged and heavy rain has resulted in river levels running high across the South East, and our thoughts are with all those affected.

“Environment Agency teams remain out on the ground, working 24/7 to minimise the impacts of flooding where possible by operating flood defences, flood-relief channels, deploying pumps and clearing watercourses. So far, nearly 80,000 properties in England have been protected in the last few days. We urge people not to drive through floodwater and to follow the advice of local emergency services on the roads."