Families say they have been left trapped inside their own homes after being hit by flooding. And to make matters worse, they say the issue is an annual occurrence.
Rain has hit the Surrey village of Stanwell since last week, reaching its highest levels on Monday. Many living in the area say they were unable to get to work, take their children to school, or even have social visits because of the water.
They say the water swamped their gardens and cars as well as the pavements and roads, reports SurreyLive. Many felt they had been abandoned by Surrey County Council, with one councillor saying the area’s drainage system needed a complete overhaul.
“It's getting higher and higher, my son hasn't gone to school and I haven’t gone to work,” said resident Sim Tannk, 35. “Every time we get rain it goes up and everyone says ‘we can’t do anything.’ We’re getting passed from pillar to post and it's ridiculous.
“If you don’t pay your council tax, two days later they'll send a letter round your house but when we need something they say ‘we haven’t got any resources.’ We’ve had to organise our own sandbags but if it damages our property or cars who’s going to pay for it?
“It’s disgusting to be quite honest. There’s no support, nothing. We’re trying to figure out things ourselves but we can’t start opening the drains. Not once has someone come down here to check it and give a plan of action. It’s constant fobbing off. You start off calm but you get to the point when it becomes a joke."
Anna-Marie Smith-Clark, 37, has lived in the area for more than 10 years. She said: "It’s ongoing, every year is the same and nothing gets done about it ever.
"This is probably the worst it’s been since 2008. The water was in my car’s footwells.
“It’s a joke. None of them distribute sandbags anymore, we have to prepare for it ourselves. I don’t know why we kept being left year after year to deal with this. I have a kid in college who’s not able to go today. I've got work tomorrow but am I even going to be able to go?”
Many living in the area said they were scared to move their cars in case pushed the water towards other homes already at risk from flooding. The issue was reversed for John Collin, 85, who without a car was having to get his shopping delivered to him by friends.
He added: “I’ve been here 26 years and it happens every year. This water won’t run away until the drains are unblocked. Nobody from the council has been around here. It’s not good enough but it happens every year, people are getting fed up with it.”
Paper emitting from a manhole cover was seen floating in a large puddle outside one person’s home while Bal Bains, 47, said her gas and heating was no longer working, meaning husband Sanj and daughters, Jaya, 10, and Simran, 7, were forced to stay at her sister’s house.
“The flooding is bad but not as bad as the fact that my kids had to sleep with two blankets yesterday with their jumpers and socks on. We've been here 12 years but this is the first time I’ve properly noticed it.
“It’s really frustrating, everyone’s passing the buck and it’s not fair. I’ve had to take time off from work today and because I’m not ill I have to take it as annual leave. It means I have less time with the kids over the Christmas holidays. It all has a knock-on effect.”
Local Labour councillor Robert Evans has been talking to residents about the issue. He said: “This is totally unacceptable. Nobody should have to live in Surrey or Stanwell in conditions like this. There isn’t the equipment or the facility to pump it away anywhere. They can’t just pump it into another drain because that will just get flooded.
“This area needs a lot of heavy investment in an underground system because this happens once or twice every year. But this is worse, I’ve spoken to some good people at the council who are at their wit's end as well.”
In response to the complaints, a spokesperson for Thames Water said: “We’ve received reports of flooding and a blockage in Long Lane, Stanwell and our engineers will be attending the site. We’re working hard to keep our sewer network operating as normal and responding to a high volume of customer calls following very heavy rain at the weekend.
“We’ve got as many engineers as possible visiting homes and business to help customers across our region and we’re sorry we’re taking longer to respond to our customers than normal.”
A spokesperson for Surrey County Council added: "Representatives from Surrey County Council and Spelthorne Borough Council have been on site over the last 48 hours responding to calls from residents. We are liaising closely with Thames Water who will be sending engineers to the area to assess the situation shortly. This is one of a number of reports of flooding across Surrey.”
Spelthorne Borough Council said vulnerable people requiring evacuation or medical assistance would be helped with a "fully mobilised" team ready to assist them.
The council said: "We understand concerns from residents regarding the localised groundwater flooding in Stanwell and are working with our partner agencies to ensure the relevant agency with the right responsibility and equipment can intervene.
"We know this is an ongoing issue in the area and are repeatedly liaising with Surrey County Council Highways department as they have the statutory responsibility for such occurrences as well as Thames Water who have responsibility for sewers."
