Call for action after Sandycroft homes decimated by flooding

The areas around Church View and Hamilton Avenue in Sandycroft suffered some of the worst flooding north east Wales experienced last Wednesday evening - with multiple homes devastated as a result.

And this is an all too familiar tale for residents in these areas, with the same happening in June of 2019.

Now residents want to see positive action on dealing with the issue - said to be down to poor drainage in the area.

A petition, set up by local resident Kelly Holland, is calling on Flintshire Council to do more to prevent the devastation and has already attracted over 500 signatures.

It says: "Houses were ruined for the second time in 18 months causing nothing but heartache and devastation.

"Not only is this making our houses worthless, it is in some cases making them impossible to insure due to the almost certainty that residents will need to make a claim again due to flooding.

"The drainage systems and ditches are poorly maintained and not fit for purpose, because of this people are suffering disastrous consequences and flooding in to their homes.

"Flintshire County Council need to act now and sort out the drainage systems in our area once and for all. More needs to be done to protect our homes and to stop more homes from unnecessary flooding."

It is also calling on Flintshire Council to provide the area with "sufficient" water pumps in the immediate future.

Flooding in Sandycroft pictured last Thursday following two prior days of heavy rain.

Jemma Turton, who lives on Lawrence Street which backs on to Hamilton Avenue, suffered serious flooding at her home for the second time in 18 months.

She said: "We had eight inches of water in the house so have eight rooms downstairs which are completely ruined.

"My son has anxiety issues suffered a panic attack while the water was rushing in, and I was just crying my eyes out as we just couldn't stop it coming in.

"All the kids' presents they got for Christmas and things like that are ruined as we just didn't have enough time to move everything upstairs."

Flooding at Jemma Turton's property in Sandycroft.

Jemma, a mother-of-two, now faces an uncertain time as she waits to hear what temporary accommodation is available for her and her family.

And to compound matters, her husband's Sandycroft-based business, Flintshire Tyres & Auto Care, also suffered flooding damage.

A lot of the flooding was made up of sewerage due to blockages in drains.

Marianne Mulder, a mother-of-five who lives on Church View, also had flood water enter her home.

She said: "Thanks to the efforts of local residents in pumping the water out throughout the night, we don't appear to have suffered as bad damage as 18 months ago.

"But until the house has been fully surveyed we don't know as we don't know what's gathered under the house.

"It's just disgusting to have sewerage come through your house - we were literally standing in people's excrement. That's bad enough at any time, but with the fact Covid-19 has been found to be present in faecal matter it's very worrying.

"And we can't even use our own toilet at the moment as it's no longer flushing."

Both say they have received little or no support from Flintshire Council regarding the issue, with Jemma saying she is still yet to hear back from the authority after logging a call with them on Wednesday.

Marianne said: "It's just not good enough, until the authorities get to the bottom of what's causing the issues and deal with them we need more help.

"It's the residents themselves that are left to deal with it all, we were promised sandbags after requesting them on Wednesday morning but they never came.

"Something's happened or changed over the last couple of years as it's got so much worse here."

Damage to the floor and walls of Marianne Mulder's home following flooding in Sandycroft.

Denise Milner, who lives next door to Marian on Church View, heroically spent 16 hours on Wednesday pumping water out from her two and another resident's pumps - without which every house on the street would likely have suffered flooding.

She said: "Whatever is the cause, we need something done - we need to see Flintshire Council, Welsh Water and Natural Resources Wales come together to investigate why our area is so liable to flood.

"Because at the moment it seems they're all passing the book to one another and no one's taking responsibility in trying to sort it out.

"With climate change happening as rapidly as it supposedly is, things are only going to get worse. This is why something has to happen now."

An even greater fear for residents in the area is that the nearby River Dee could one day burst its banks - with the current flooding coming down off agricultural land in nearby Mancot.

Steve Jones, Flintshire Council’s chief officer for Streetscene and transportation, said: “The county was affected by very high rainfall levels over last Wednesday and Thursday which resulted in almost 500 calls for assistance from residents and businesses across the county.

"Accepting that the council is not responsible for flooding at every location, it responded to all as quickly as possible given the resources available and staff worked throughout the night to reopen roads and to provide help where it could to residents who were experiencing flooding in their properties. Every incident which involves internal residential flooding will be investigated once the current period of bad weather has eased.”