Son found drowned mum after rescue crews failed to recheck her Chesterfield home - inquest
Maureen Gilbert was discovered floating in the water by Paul Gilbert at her home in the aftermath of Storm Babet
An 83-year-old woman was found drowned in floodwater by her son after a fire service did not check her home the morning after it was unable to rescue her, an inquest has heard.
Maureen Gilbert was discovered floating in the water by Paul Gilbert at her home in Tapton Terrace, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, on October 21 2023 after the River Rother burst its banks and flooded her house during Storm Babet.
Chesterfield Coroner's Court was told firefighters did not go back to the property after a request to recheck Mrs Gilbert's home was "mislogged" while Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service's control room systems were down.
She was one of at least seven people who died as a result of Storm Babet, which caused disruption across the UK.
The inquest heard that the fire service did everything it could to reach Mrs Gilbert at her terraced property on the evening of October 20, but firefighters were unable to reach her.
Neil Porteous, who was an incident commander for the fire service, said he requested that Tapton Terrace be reinspected the day after crews could not rescue Mrs Gilbert but this "was not communicated the next morning", the inquest heard.
Clive Stanbrook, who was an area manager for the fire service, told the inquest on Tuesday: "This had clearly not been handed over to the next shift the next day. We should have gone back in the morning. We fell short."
Parts of the control room system had "completely failed" on October 20 when the request to check on Mrs Gilbert was made, the inquest heard.
Mr Gilbert said it was "disappointing" that he discovered his mother himself on the morning of October 21.
Wheelie bins and fence panels were floating in the water when firefighters attempted to make contact with Mrs Gilbert the evening before, the inquest heard.
Mr Porteous said: "It was massive amounts of water. The front gardens were completely underwater. It was a difficult scene to look at.
"Numerous wheelie bins just floating on top of the water. Loads of debris floating. Manhole covers had lifted as well."
Mr Porteous said the crew knew Mrs Gilbert was inside the property because her son had spoken to her on the phone but then lost contact.
He said: "It was just a very, very difficult scene. We had done everything we could possibly do.
"We don't like to leave people behind. It was just too dangerous - it was getting too dark.
"The crew said 'Can we go in?' and at that point I had to stop them and explain why, and they understood."
At 7.22pm, the rescue crew left the scene at Tapton Terrace and Mr Porteous made the request for a reinspection the next day.
The inquest will continue on Wednesday morning.