One Woman, Four Floods, No Justice
HELEN MURPHY & NICK PELLING investigate one woman’s struggle with Southern Water
In the last edition of HIP (238), much was written about the seeming incompetence of Southern Water and the filthy cost of it. But we decided to zoom in on the way this blundering company has wrecked the life of one particular woman. We are well aware that numerous people and businesses have their own stories of watery ruination, but sometimes one person’s experience brings the wider problem into sharper focus.
GROUNDHOG DAY
In 2003 Sarah Lake bought a property to let in South Terrace. The rental income was going to be her means of surviving financially. It was a sensible little plan. But now her plan and indeed her financial life has been devastated. Her maisonette has been flooded four times in just over two years. Inevitably, she is angry, upset and wants to know why it keeps on happening. In her words, “I am stuck in a weird Groundhog Day.” The blame appears to lie with Southern Water, who have had responsibility for that whole watercourse since 2019. It is very hard to escape the view that the company is either incompetent or callous. Or both.
The consequence of their apparent negligence is that, of course, she cannot rent or sell her property but she remains stuck with the mortgage, the council tax and all the other expenses. Her income and outgoings simply do not add up, and she is now sliding into debt. Inevitably, it has also affected her mental health, leaving her with serious anxiety issues leading to a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. When we spoke to Sarah she was clearly very upset, to the point of tears. Nevertheless, quite remarkably, she is engaged in a battle for compensation with Southern Water that would exhaust most lawyers. But, as she said, it is almost impossible to talk to the right person at Southern Water, “they push you from pillar to post and just grind you down.”
For their part, Southern Water have not admitted guilt as such but their approach seems to almost imply it. They paid for a complete refurbishment of the property to the tune of £82,500 but the recent floods have simply ruined it all again. Insanely, this was the third time they have paid for repairs. Even more insanely, they have spent almost as much as the property was worth before the floods.
ABSURDITY ON TOP OF INSANITY
The most recent flooding in late October took the water levels up to about ten feet in the basement and very nearly drowned the poor tenant’s dog. They even paid for Sarah to have psychiatric help, as if her very real money worries could be sorted out by a few chats with a shrink. These handouts cannot alter the fact that Sarah’s finances are ruined and, worse still, it seems highly likely that the flooding will just happen again and again. Even the water company must surely see that refurbishments of property with the current drainage situation is absurd.
The apparent incompetence of Southern Water comes with a sinister edge. Sarah has been told that if she takes her story to the media, they may, in their words, “withdraw goodwill.” There is surely a whiff of blackmail about such an approach.
Just before the recent heavy flooding a report was published into the problems of the drainage system, produced by the engineering consultancy Ardent, commissioned by East Sussex County Council. This report states that “Southern Water confirmed that they installed the manhole in 2019” and that it repeatedly “surcharges,” which we assume is engineer-speak for bursts off. The most extraordinary part of the report is probably the line that says Southern Water has “yet to locate documentation” which shows what flood risk assessments were undertaken when they took over. Either they didn’t do an adequate risk assessment or they have perhaps, conveniently, lost the paperwork. Astonishing.
THE LONG SEARCH FOR COMPETENCE
The way forward for Sarah is at present hard to perceive. She does not have the wealth necessary to wage a long legal battle with Southern Water. Unless the drainage system is changed, it is likely that floods will just keep happening. A visit to the road shows that although the manhole has been sealed up and tarmacked over, the road itself is so full of cracks that more bursting points are probable. Sarah says many people just glibly shrug and mumble about global warming. There may be something in that, but the critical thing here seems to be that the whole drainage system under South Terrace needs immediate attention with a view to increasing its capacity, so that it can cope with changing circumstances. It is surely a problem that competent engineers can solve.
We wait to see if Southern Water can discover some competence. If they could also find some humanity, they should stop the quasi-bribes and cough up a full compensation.
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