Tales of Anguish and Anger
The Quaker meeting house in South Terrace, where the religious Society of Friends has met for worship since 1865, had suffered severe flooding in January. The damage took seven months to restore. Saturday’s deluge looks to have caused repeat devastation.
Peter Bolwell, an elder of the meeting, doesn’t know whether their insurers would be willing to pay out again. He was in no doubt that the “failed and disgraced” privatisation of the water industry was to blame, with Southern Water preferring to pay inflated dividends to shareholders rather than taking proper heed to their public responsibilities.
Barry Ashley, owner of the Grumpy Cook café on the corner of Robertson Street, was living up to his brand name as he sat in his evacuated premises on Saturday afternoon. Contaminated water started coming up through the storm drain in his basement at 8.30am on Saturday morning. By 9am it was overflowing. Staff of East Sussex Fire and Rescue bailed him out, but the café will have to remain closed until it can be hygienically cleaned up.
He believes that his insurers will pay up, but subject to a high excess contribution because of the previous flood experience. As a not-for-profit trader, he’ll find that difficult. He too feels that Southern Water must bear prime responsibility.
Police and firefighters in the meantime closed South Terrace from Braybrooke Road to Queens Road and took the decision to move local residents from their homes to the Salvation Army Hall in nearby St Andrew’s Square.
Costa Coffee in Wellington Place was used as a hub by the emergency services to coordinate relief efforts. HBC leader Paul Barnett and his deputy Maya Evans were also in attendance, directing the council’s emergency relief teams.
Local ward councillor Judy Rogers was on hand to help support those displaced. She said it was “heartbreaking to see the devastation”. She was particularly affected by the plight of one mother with two young children, who were forced to leave their flat having only just moved back in a month ago after the January floods: their basement kitchen and bathroom were again under water.
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