Residents and commuters were up in arms after torrential rain during Wednesday (2 August 2023) afternoon on a road in North Acton has made the area inaccessible despite being told previously by Ealing Council that drains and gullies are regularly looked at.
Cars and buses have had to turn around by the bridge in Victoria Road and one person was rescued by the London Fire Brigade from their car after they attempted to cross the flooded road.
Residents are calling on Ealing Council to fix the problem which they say occurs on a regular basis.
One local told EALING.NEWS: “It happened several times last October and November, so why hasn’t it been fixed by now?”
They added: “It’s dangerous, happens on a regular basis and disrupts our lives. They need to fix it.”
When it happened previously, Thames Water confirmed to EALING.NEWS that it is Ealing Council’s responsibility to come up with a solution and fix the issue.
In a tweet message to EALING.NEWS, the water company said: “Our engineers have investigated this and this is rain water gathering in the dip of the road. Our assets are working as expected, and the road is the council’s asset”.
Unlike on previous occasions when the road was blocked for several days, residents told EALING.NEWS that the flooding had gone within two hours but say more needs to be done to avoid disruptions.
One local watching what happened said there should be notice warnings about flooding. Jane told EALING.NEWS: “More needs to be done such as warning signs about flooding in the area as well as finding ways to get the water draining away without it building up the way it does.
Councillor Athena Zissimos, Ealing Liberal Democrat spokesperson for the environment including streets, parks, air quality and climate change, previously told EALING.NEWS :“The Labour Council is never it seems proactive when it comes to blocked drains, even when they know that there is a problem, they still do not fix the problem, so the same flooding happens again.”
Councillor Zissimos added: “The Council should be inspecting drains on a regular basis and clearing them before they flood, not be waiting for flooding to occur before they do anything. In North Acton even when flooding does happen, that is not enough for a wake-up call for anything to be done by the Labour Council, the Liberal Democrats say they should be doing better.”
Ealing Green Party chair Neil Reynolds told EALING.NEWS: “As storms intensify as a result of climate breakdown, flooding of this nature will become more common. Of course the Council should do everything it reasonably can to clear drains. To try and limit this in the long term however, Government, at both national and local level, needs to act with appropriate urgency to tackle our carbon emissions.”
A Council spokesperson previously told EALING.NEWS: “Highway gullies drain surface water runoff from roads and pavements into the Thames Water’s main sewers under the ground, however in rainstorm events the capacity of the main sewer network is often unable to cope with such intensities and/or prolonged period of rainfall. This can cause surface water to pool on the surface as the drainage system is backing up through the gullies from the Thames Water’s main sewers, but that does not necessarily mean that the gullies and/or sewers are blocked. Therefore, normally we suggest that at least three hours is allowed for the water to dissipate before action is taken.”
They added: “All the gullies in the borough are inspected regularly as part of the Periodic Highway Safety Inspection Regime. Highways are aware of areas susceptible to flash flooding and adopt a proactive approach of gulley cleansing in these areas annually in the summer. Highways inspectors continue to monitor these locations and arrange for further cleaning as and when necessary.”
A London Fire Brigade spokesperson said: “Recent heavy rain has shown how quickly a flash flood can inundate a street. Our firefighters know what they need to do in a flood, but it’s important Londoners know as well. We’d encourage you to follow our flooding advice.”
The Fire Brigade has also issued advice to people in the event of flooding of a property
- Call 999 if you are in immediate danger. Follow the advice of the operator and if you are told to evacuate, do so
- If you don’t evacuate when you are told you may be putting yourself and those people attempting to rescue you in greater danger
- If you do evacuate, make sure you bring your grab bag with you. This should contain the essential items you’d need if you left your home
- Turn off your gas supply, water and electricity supply, if it is possible and safe to do so
 afternoon on a road in North Acton has made the area inaccessible despite being told previously by Ealing Council that drains and gullies are regularly looked at. ){kind=link}