Flooding victims not going home for Christmas

People who had to move out of their street due to flooding are facing a Christmas away from their homes.

The residents of Bulwer Street in Bootle, Merseyside, were forced out on 30 September when water gushed into their homes after a period of heavy rain led to a sewage system failure.

United Utilities said it was "incredibly sorry" that residents would not be home for Christmas Day but it was "positive" they would be able to return by April.

Bulwer Street resident Sid Traynor, 80, told BBC Radio Merseyside: "People are very upset over it, they've lost everything."

• Homes evacuated as flooding hits region

Recalling the day of the flood, Mr Traynor, who is currently living in a hotel, said he had been at home doing a crossword when he walked into his conservatory only to see water coming in.

"I thought I better get my mop bucket," he said.

"Then, when I looked out I couldn't see any grass.

"The next thing I'd seen was a wave coming over, and that was it - like that – I couldn't get in and save anything."

Mr Traynor's home is undergoing extensive work including re-plastering, while his £14,000 juke box is also being repaired.

Outside the road is lined with vans and skips as workers repair neighbouring properties, many of which have dehumidifier hoses emerging from their letter boxes.

For Mr Traynor and his neighbours, this is all too familiar.

Homes were previously flooded in 2013, leaving some residents unable to return for six months.

"It wasn't as bad last time," Mr Traynor said.

"We keep asking the same question – is this going to happen again? Obviously, [United Utilities] can't say it won't happen again.

"What they're saying is they've done a few things, but we don't know.

"Do I think it will happen again? Yeah, I personally do but I'm 80 now and I'm too old to start looking round for another house now."

United Utilities said the cause of the flooding was "rare and exceptional".

Chris Matthews, head of regional engagement, said it was down to a "software fault", resulting in a failure to pump the rain water into the nearby River Mersey.

"We've fixed the software problem," he said.

"We've also got a manual system in place as well that offers some reassurance."

On the matter of yet another repeat, Mr Matthews said: "I wouldn't sit here and say that we could guarantee it will never, ever flood because we cannot control the rain.

"What I would say on the reassurance that we can give is that we have addressed the issues that happened in the past and we're putting additional resilience into the system".

United Utilities said it was "positive" residents would be back in their homes before April.

Sally Ainsworth, head of customer services, said the company was "incredibly sorry" that people were not back in their homes for Christmas.

The company said it was arranging days out, meals and hampers over the Christmas period for displaced residents.

For Mr Traynor he still wants to be back in his home comforts.

"It's not the same [being in a hotel], you want to be home for Christmas," he said.

"People are very upset over it, they've lost everything.

"There's things there that you'll never get back – I know people who've lost photographs, weddings, all sorts.

"Things that the parents had and the parents have passed away.

"Its all gone."

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