Flooding in our streets has been shocking this year, displacing people from their homes and  shutting down shops and restaurants trying to recover from lockdowns.  Following the downpour of 12th July when during 90 minutes nearly three inches of rain fell, it rained again last Sunday, 25th July to create even more water soaked and ruined homes and businesses.

Local residents who have lost homes and treasured possessions now want to be heard and to see a solution to the ongoing problem and have formed a group to file a Class Action complaint against the council as each London borough is responsible for flooding as a Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA). They work in partnership with the Environment Agency, Thames Water and other stakeholders to manage flood risk. Different authorities are responsible for different elements of drainage and flood management.

Basement flooding has been a problem for years in Norland, which lies in the Counters Creek catchment area, a sewerage system that it collects both sewage (toilets, sinks, washing machines etc) and rainwater run-off from roads and roofs. With heavy rainfall the sewer system can become so full the sewers’ contents flow back into a property, as has happened in many properties this year.

Thames Water has been providing Flooding Local Improvement Process (FLIPs) to basement properties in Norland Square as a flood protection measure. A FLIP is an electrically-powered pump, which operates when the sewer network is at capacity, isolating the property from the network and protecting it from hydraulic flooding during times of heavy rainfall. 

The pump system in Norland Square was completed in 2009, reducing the risk of flooding in Upper Addison Gardens, Holland Road and Elsham Road help reduce the risk of internal and external flooding to properties in Addison Avenue, and Norland Square (west) at peak flow times. This didn’t help residents at Royal Crescent who saw horrific flooding. One couple had just renovated their flat and decorated it ready for their first child in December, only to see their home and possessions overwhelmed by dirty water. It will take an estimated six months to make it habitable.

A Thames Water employee says the recent deluge of rain overwhelmed the system, saying: “There isn’t one solution. Climate change is a lot of the problem, we had two major storms in two weeks, one with over 40mm of rain in one hour. The second storm lasted two hours, with a months worth of rain in that time.” The Hammersmith sewer pumping station went from half a meter of water to 11 meters in 20 minutes. The Thames Water pumping stations work by forcing the water out to the Thames and the pressure on the system will ease once the Tideway Tunnel is completed in 2025. When it comes online everything will automatically drain into the Thames.

Thames Water says it will be working with local authority, environment agency, Port of London Authority, all coming together to look at solutions. Some of the flooding is made by blocked gullies, fat in the system or the pipes blocked with rubbish like wet wipes. “We have a whole team committed to clearing fat blocks,” Alan Winston, Thames Water network protection adviser, says: “Thames Water prosecutes restaurants for fat blockages, “(it fined Mitchells & Butlers, which has 400 pubs and restaurants, £90,000 last month), although he says Thames Water prefers to educate the restaurants in advance. Grease traps help the situation but there is no legislation to force restaurants to install them. Enzyme dosing also helps break up fat blocks.  

Another problem is basements. Many basements, constructed in Victorian times, were used for storing coal but now these underground areas are converted into flats with new kitchen and bathroom connections to the sewer, which has increased flooding incidents during heavy rainfall when the sewer flows back up through these connections into the basements. 

Local Marion Gettleson, who owned and ran Portobello’s Delehar antique shop from 1958 until 2019, has been devastated by the flash flood, which rose to waist height in her flat. She says: “At least I have insurance. There are hundreds, if not thousands, who have no insurance at all and [Thames Water] has left them to rot. The whole flood was made worse by the newly built hump in the the road, which funnelled the water up Portobello Road.  It is utterly appalling that all these shops get flooded.” Gettleson says around 40 Portobello houses were flooded.

“I think it behoves anyone who is in any way affected to join in with the class action,” advises Gettleson. “I think Thames Water is behaving despicably. What are they going to do for me, I have lost my home? All they are interested in is creating profits. I was sitting in my lovely ground floor apartment at 5pm and by 5.30pm I was homeless.” Gettleson will be unable to return to her home for six  months and meanwhile she is staying in a nearby rental flat.

Another Thames Water spokesperson said: “The extreme weather which caused widespread flooding has been devastating for many people, and we sympathise with everyone affected. At this stage, we have not found any evidence of our network contributing to the scale of the flooding on Monday, 12th July. However, we recognise the impact of the flooding on customers and we will be commissioning an independent review to confirm how our network performed during the event. 

“We also had extra staff on standby during the flooding on Sunday, July 25, and have offered support to the London borough emergency planning teams, who lead on surface flooding. We share flood risk responsibilities with a range of organisations across London, including local councils, highways authorities and the Environment Agency, and we look forward to continuing working with them on viable and sustainable solutions to combat two of the main causes of flooding – climate change and population growth.

 “Working with TfL, the Environment Agency and local councils, we've helped install award-winning urban planting schemes in several London boroughs that can reduce flooding by up to 90 per cent by soaking up rainwater before slowly releasing it into the sewers. We’re now extending the work to other areas in London.”