Flash floods hit village homes again (From Watford Observer)

Flash floods hit village homes again

11:24am Thursday 2nd July 2009

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Urgent action is needed after flood waters poured into three Bovingdon homes for the second time in as many weeks, worried residents have said.

The houses, in Eastnor, were left ankle-deep in murky water after torrential rain battered the area on Saturday evening.

David Mash, 23, one of many to have suffered severe damage to his home in after previous deluges, was again forced to wade through his living room and escape through a window.

David’s father Ian, who had spent months doing-up the property with his son said: “Exactly the same thing happened on Saturday as it did several weeks ago but this time it was worse.

“It started to rain at 7pm and by 7.15pm the house was flooded. There was about five inches of water inside. It was that quick.

“It’s clear that extensive work needs to be done to the drains to address the problem.”

Mr Mash added: “While Hertfordshire Council is trying to find a solution, my concern is that with the warm weather and with the likelihood of more storms there is no immediate solution in place.

“We don’t know where the water comes from or even if it is clean. We’re worried it could be a health issue.”

In June waters rapidly seeped through Mr Mash’s doors and windows, flooding the ground floor and destroying furnishings – damages the young bank worker will cost around £15,000 to fix.

Hertfordshire County Council spokeswoman Jo Brown said: “We are sorry to hear about the flooding at the weekend and are currently carrying out a two day inspection of the site to see what further works can be done to alleviate flooding in the future.

“In the short term, we're arranging sandbags for the affected properties to protect them from any further flash floods.”

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