Hundreds of residents have been evacuated from their homes after a car park was completely submerged in floodwater following a horrendously wet end to 2024
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Natalie King and Alan Johnson
15:19, 02 Jan 2025
Rescue crews were sent to evacuate residents from the block(Image: William Lailey / SWNS)
2025 kicked off with a nightmare for luxury flat resident who found herself stuck in her flat and had her car wrecked by floodwaters.
“There’s no way in or out,” TikTok user Hannah Beau said in a video she shot from her window at Meadow Mill in Stockport, peering down at the grim sight on January 1. Her footage started off by showing the building’s car park where a sea of cars were nearly swallowed whole by water.
“I’m on the fourth floor so it’s obviously not going to reach us, but my car is underwater – it’s definitely written off,” she said while showing the flooded scene. “[Rescuers] are handing water up to those on the first floor in a boat, and the emergency services are on standby.”
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Hannah, who posts on TikTok under the username hannahbeauc, gave live updates on the situation as four ambulances, three fire engines, and a police car turned up to tackle the crisis.
“We have no power, no transport, no clean water,” Hannah said. “So this is a really great start to 2025. I’m accepting thoughts and prayers.”
A couple of hours on, she was back online to share that firefighters had sorted her out with water and the flood was starting to retreat. But now, she flagged up an “oil spill” that had taken over the space beneath her flat, creating more headaches for the emergency crews.
“The road looks disgusting – it’s covered in mud,” she continued, before sharing that efforts were being made to get the “elderly and vulnerable” to safety. Hannah said: “So far we’re being told just to stay put.”
Cars parked outside the newly converted Meadow Mill in Stockport were flooded(Image: William Lailey / SWNS)
She then had to navigate a corridor in the building by candlelight, jokingly saying: “I feel like I’m from the Victorian era and ironically this building is a former Victorian mill,”.
In another update, Hannah disclosed that TV news crews had descended on the scene, reporting live as the oil spill made the area smell, adding insult to injury. “If I don’t laugh I’ll cry,” she said. “I’ve lost my house and my car on the first of January!”
Hannah’s social media updates soon went viral online, especially a fourth video which racked up over a million views in just hours. “Mountain rescue are here now and they’re checking over everyone’s cars,” she reported.
“I shouted down to them and most of them aren’t secure – they’re destroyed. They said water has gone in pretty much every car.”
Despite the ground becoming visible, Hannah said: “It’s still not looking good. We still haven’t been evacuated but it looks like some progress is being made.”
Residents were able to leave the building after the fire brigade spent all day pumping out flood water(Image: William Lailey / SWNS)
In a final clip, her evacuation began after being instructed to “pack bags” by rescuers. Hannah, along with about 400 others, was transported to a council refuge centre at Holdsworth Mill in Reddish.
“People are in shorts because we’re going to have to be sprayed down and ‘anti-bacterialed’ and hosed down on the way out,” she said.
One of Hannah’s followers advised: “Please, please make sure to take anything you need important, you will be out for a while! ” drawing from personal experience they added, “It’s happened to me before take important docs with you, medication etc.”
Another follower recommended practicality, saying: “Get rucksacks! Put on back cross over bag to take things with you.”
A third follower complained about the local authorities, adding: “Shocking that they let the drainage deteriorate to the point of flooding – bet the drains haven’t been cleared in years.”
Another warned about dealing with insurance companies, adding: “Insurance will be a pain as they will try and claim it was an act of God and try to wiggle out of it.”
In reaction to the incident, Greater Manchester Police’s Chief Superintendent Colette Rose stated: “We are continuing to monitor the whole of Greater Manchester as we look to co-ordinate the emergency response involving a variety of services. Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service have been key to this to ensure we can keep those people and communities safe after the severe weather we have had.
“Thankfully, due to the efforts of all involved so far no one has been seriously injured or come to harm and would like to thank members of the public for their continued co-operation especially around the road closures in place and looking out for each other. Anyone still affected should continue to check the relevant detail being shared by their local council, the fire service and Transport for Greater Manchester to ensure they can get the support available that may be needed.”