Tipton street flooded in thunderstorms - with VIDEO
Almost a dozen homes in one Tipton street have been left "devastated" after being flooded when thunderstorms swept through.
One resident, Les Turner, said about four inches of water came through his bungalow in Walker Street and his power went off for six hours yesterday – which he described as "horrendous".
The 75-year-old added: "It started quite early about 3pm then it went really heavy, it was absolutely horrendous.
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"It was about 6pm it came in the house. After a while the electricity went off and was off for six hours.
"I was up all night cleaning up. It was in the dark, it was horrendous. I'd put all my possessions up high so there were only one or two things affected.
"When the electricity came back on there were sticks and leaves in the house. It looks like it's almost certainly going to be new carpets and a new sofa."
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Mark Arnold, 54, has lived on the street for 13 years and said it floods every year.
He said: "The garden is a mess and the whole downstairs of our house.
"There are 11 properties that have been flooded. I've got laminate flooring all the way through the downstairs and it's peeling up. I'm worried about what germs are there.
"We've got quite a few things that have got wet. It happened so quickly we just didn't get time to move things
"I couldn't get out of the chair so I had to call my son. He had to wade through the water to get to my house, it was up to his knees, it was disgusting."
The MP for West Bromwich West, Shaun Bailey, visited the site this morning to try and support the residents – and said it was "devastating" for them.
He added: "It had dried off but it looked like absolute carnage, there were debris and there was a stench from the sewers in their houses. It was absolutely devastating.
"It's the second time this has happened in not that long. There are many people here that are vulnerable and have been flooded in. Some can't get insurance because of how frequently it's happened.
"There seems to be ongoing issues in Tipton, there needs to be a real conversation between the local authority and the water board about how we deal with this.
"I've been getting emails and numbers for the residents and trying to link them with these people to give them the support that they pay for."
Another of those affected was Raj Rasakumaran, the owner of Raj Food & Wines in Toll End Road – another of those affected. He said since he opened the shop in 2007 it has flooded five times.
This time his home, which he shares with his wife and two children behind the shop, also flooded and the family are having to stay elsewhere while the flooring is repaired.
He said: "All the floorboards in the house will have to be changed. I didn't open the shop today because it's been a lot of work to clean up.
"It happened in 2008, we closed the shop for 4-and-a-half months and the house took nearly one year. Then again in 2012, 2013, 2016 and 2018.
"I can't keep spending money every year."
A Sandwell Council spokesman said: “We work closely with the water companies on an ongoing basis.
“Our highways teams responded to numerous reports of flash flooding due to the storms last night, including in Walker Street.
“Road closures were put into place and flood packs provided to residents where needed – water subsided quickly once the storms cleared.
“We have been working to replace any drain covers that became displaced due to the surge in water and we worked with Serco to arrange a tanker to clear roads affected by flooding.
“No structural damage has been reported for the road at Walker Street.”
A spokesman for Severn Trent said: "We’re really sorry that some of our customers in Tipton have been affected by the extreme rainfall – there was an awful lot of rain in a very short time. We’ve been working in this area for a good while and some customers in the area do already have flood mitigation in place.
“Our teams are out on-site today to clear up, speak to customers and to understand the number of properties flooded. We’ll do everything that we can to help those customers as much as possible and look at what we can do to support the community going forwards.”
