Sherborne store blown away by community support after flood

Vineyards in Sherborne, situated at the Old Yarn Mills business centre, was devastated by flood water following the downpour brought on by Storm Babet.

Hannah Wilkins, who owns Vineyards, was thankful that the local community was on hand to help.

She said: “Water just started cascading in through the back doors on the roadside of the building. It came in so quickly, there was very little we could do - but at least we were there to start shifting stock.

Members of the community pitched in and helped save what stock they could at Vineyards in Sherborne (Image: Claire Fry)

“Several of our regular customers were with us too, and everyone just pitched in.

"It was all a bit of a blur at the time, but looking back there was an amazing effort made by everyone which helped save a lot of our wine and other products.

“I dread to think what might have happened had we not been there." 

The effort from everyone who helped is something that Hannah has been blown away by as people pulled together to help save what they could from the damage caused.

People came to offer what help that could, helping to create raised platforms to store stock on (Image: Claire Fry)

She added: “Honestly, it was quite mind blowing. It's always said that people really club together in a crisis, but this just proved that to us.

“We were inundated with help from all sorts of people, and it was amazing how quickly people got down to us.

“Even now, the town is trying to support in all sorts of ways. We feel so lucky to be part of such a giving community."

Poeple from all over came to aid the businesses at The Old Yarn Mills business centre (Image: Claire Fry)

Hannah said she has added flood defences to the store.

“We've moved absolutely everything off floor level, people have helped us make wooden pallets to keep our stock and electrical items on, and our suppliers have been kind enough to provide us with extra boxes.

“We've battened down the hatches, quite literally where the water came in before, and have added in defences recommended by the council and our landlord.

“We're monitoring the CCTV for any warning signs and spending as much time on site in person as possible.  

Hannah says she does feel fortunate that her business was less impacted than others and remains hopeful that she can reopen soon.

READ: Dorset carpet business 'devastated' by flooding

She added: “We were lucky, some of our neighbours lost absolutely everything and our hearts go out to them, but wine is a funny thing, and it likes to be stored a certain way.

“Some of our most valuable and most vulnerable items were on the floor and they've been hit the worst.

“As for insurance companies, we have had some very tricky conversations. It's not been a fun couple of days, but we're looking forward to having everything in place to be back up and running as soon as possible.  

Storm Ciaran could see further flooding hit the area (Image: Claire Fry)

Hannah also wanted to express her gratitude towards the local authorities and representatives who have also come to their aid.