Flood victim’s fears for disabled siblings after water destroys home
Robyn Conley’s family home in Worksop was ruined by flooding.
A Worksop resident has described how becoming homeless due to the weather has thrown her family, including her disabled siblings, into disarray.
Robyn Conley, 18, saw her family home destroyed by extensive flooding after parts of the Midlands and northern England were battered by a month’s worth of rain in one day.
Ms Conley, who lives with her mother and three siblings, told the PA news agency of the difficulty her family has endured.
“It’s a big impact for my family,” Ms Conley said.
“My mum being a single parent with disabled kids, now with no home … it’s a lot of pressure.”
Ms Conley’s sister has epilepsy and cerebral palsy, while one of her brothers has talipes, otherwise known as club foot. Her other brother has ADHD, among other conditions.
“I said ‘Why can’t we just stay upstairs in the house?'” Ms Conley said.
“(But) the damp could affect my sister massively.
“We thought she was going to have a seizure (on Friday night). She kind of knows when she’s going to have one … she knows the signs.”
The flooding not only destroyed Ms Conley’s home on Central Avenue, but also made collecting medication difficult for the family.
“My little sister’s got epilepsy so we had to go and get her medication,” Ms Conley said.
“We had to get on the boat and go to the chemist.
“They told us that they had no medication for my sister, which was scary for us.”
Ms Conley’s family are currently staying with her grandmother locally, and expect to be in a hotel on Tuesday night.
And while her mother looks for houses to move into, the lack of properties with enough rooms and space for her siblings means the 18-year-old faces the prospect of moving away from her family.
“I’ve just turned 18 so I’ve only just really become an adult,” she said.
“I’m currently on my Universal Credit just coming out of college, finding jobs.
“It’s a lot of pressure really because all of a sudden I’ve found a job, to then having to tell them I don’t think I’ll be able to get the job due to my house being flooded.
“I’m going from living with my family, on a normal day-to-day basis, to now being put into a flat.
“One day it’s perfect, everything’s absolutely fine. The next day we’ve lost our house.”
