‘She rang me to say there was water coming into the house’ – This is climate breakdown

• Location Chesterfield, UK

• Disaster Storm Babet, 2023

Paul Gilbert’s mother, Maureen, lived in Chesterfield. In 2023, Storm Babet claimed seven lives across the UK, led to more than 10,000 people being evacuated from their homes and caused in excess of £450m in property damage. Extreme rainfall is more common and more intense because of human-caused climate breakdown across most of the world, and experts have linked some of the damage caused by Storm Babet to the climate crisis.

My mum rang me to tell me there was water coming into the house. She sounded fine, she wasn’t panicking, just wanted to let me know so I wouldn’t worry. But when I rang her back later, the telephone was dead.

When we eventually got into the house the next day, I found the phone downstairs near her body. It was floating in the water next to her; the flood waters had come in a torrent in less than two minutes from ankle to waist height.

Paul Gilbert stands in the doorway of Tapton Terrace, Chesterfield, the house where his mum lived and where he was born. Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian

My mum, Maureen Gilbert, had lived in her house in Tapton Terrace, Chesterfield, for 83 years, her whole life. I was born there 49 years ago. These houses have been up standing for 120 years, and in all the time my mum lived there, we had never had any floods until 2007, when the water probably got up to about 4ft. But this time there was nearly 6ft of water in the house.

I had visited her in the morning, after the flood alert was made, and left about 12 noon. I wasn’t unduly worried; I glanced at the river levels as I left.

By 1.20pm she rang me when I was home to tell me there was water coming in. I said to her: “Are you upstairs?” She said she was just getting her stuff together to go upstairs. I told her to flip the electrics off and go upstairs; she has a kettle and everything up there, and I would ring her back after some calls I had to make.

The village of Sandiacre, Derbyshire, submerged after flooding caused by Storm Babet in October 2023. Photograph: HDM Entertainment/SWNS

I made a telephone call to sort out my daughter coming home from school as she was being released early. Then I rang Mum back – it was really just a few minutes later but the phone was dead.

It took me six hours to get across Chesterfield back to the terrace. It was chaos, water everywhere, the roads were gridlocked. It was 6.45pm when I got back to her house.

The water level was the highest I have ever seen it; higher than 2007. It was fast-flowing, rising over 8ft over Mum’s back door.

But there was no way to get into the house, no way I would have survived if I tried. The fire and rescue service said there was a risk to life to get into the house. They were in the water but they were all buoyant, treading water to try and reach the property.

We recovered her body the following day from the downstairs of the house; the phone was nearby. Because the body had been in the water that long, it was impossible to put a time of death on the record. So they put down her death as that day; 21 October 2023, the day she was recovered.

But I know she definitely died the day before; after my last call with her.

Gilbert in the back lane behind Tapton Terrace. The flood water was over the stone wall behind him and to his left in photos. Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian

We have just had the inquest into my mum’s death. It was scary when I walked in, seeing all these agencies that were involved: the police, ambulance, three fire brigades, the Environment Agency, the council. They all arrived with multiple barristers lining the room and I was there on my own. I was scared but I thought they must be scared of this, too. We are talking thousands of pounds for lawyers each day for these agencies.

All these lawyers argued against the coroner producing a “prevention of future deaths” report at the end of the inquest. When the coroner explained to me what one was, I thought, I can see why they don’t want this.

But for my mum’s sake, it had to be written. I know my mum would want answers about what happened. I know she would want to try and stop it happening to anyone else, that’s the main thing.

And the report, it warns that because the agencies have not put in flood defences which were recommended 20 years ago, it warns that other people could die, especially the elderly and vulnerable.

The agencies are all fighting between each other. The Environment Agency has said there is no affordable way to protect these houses. They have passed it on to the council.

We have got friends and family still living there. There are other elderly people in the terrace; there is a guy who is a year or so younger than my mum, and another man in his 70s who is in ill-health. People are just always waiting now, every time it rains they panic.

The agencies see it as just 26 houses; they are not important. They think there is no point doing anything to protect this one small street of 26 houses, when they have to look at protecting a whole town. They say there is no cost-effective way to protect the houses, they are suggesting they should be sacrificed.

We sold my mum’s house at auction in the April after she died there. None of my kids wanted it. I didn’t want it after finding her there. So it was sold. A young family lives there now.

• Design and development by Harry Fischer and Pip Lev.