VOICES OF THE FLOOD

AN ORAL, WRITTEN AND VISUAL RECORD OF THE 2008 EVENT AND ITS AFTERMATH

PERSONAL STORIES AND ACCOUNTS TOLD BY VICTIMS, VOLUNTEERS, AND MEMBERS OF VARIOUS AGENCIES.

Greater Morpeth Development Trust and Morpeth Flood Action Group have joined together to create a historical exhibition and interactive website to preserve memories of the flood. This includes a timeline of events as they occurred from the evening prior to Saturday 6th September 2008. It relates the personal recollections of a variety of people closely involved in the event.

It will contain accounts from agencies such as Environment Agency, Morpeth Town Council, Northumbria Police, Northumberland Fire and Rescue, and Northumberland County Council. There are also to be the stories of the volunteers who played an integral part after the event took place; for example, members of the Lions, the Rotary, the Red Cross and the New Life Christian Centre.

Interwoven with these accounts will be the stories of some of the many flood victims themselves. Some older residents of Morpeth comparing their earlier memories of the 1963 flood, and how these two events differed.

There will be a photographic timeline, showing how the flooding occurred at various locations around town, prior to the River Wansbeck breaching its banks. Other resources will include helicopter videos and Morpeth Herald and other media articles and letters.

Following the actual flooding the mammoth job of cleaning up homes, businesses and the town will be recounted. Each family can provide a unique perspective on this arduous task. The agencies’ reports on their actions in the aftermath and the important role of all the volunteers is explored.

It is intended as an ongoing project, which will not reach fruition until after the proposed flood defences are actually in place in later 2013. It is planned to produce an exhibition to be held in the Town Hall approximately two years after the date of the flood. Subsequent to this the exhibition and the web site will be updated as new material is gathered.