Residents left counting the cost after homes flooded

Some 20 houses were flooded on Saturday on Whitebank Road in Limeside, with many families left feeling helpless as sentimental items and crucial appliances became waterlogged.

Residents first noticed water seeping in to front gardens as a Yellow Weather Warning was issued by the Met Office, which only worsened until “toilets were bubbling” and water was “seeping through the walls.”

Elizabeth Buckley has been living at her property for just a year and had been advised not to touch anything in the home, as the floodwater was “dirty.”

“It’s been horrendous, really. We’ve not really had much help or advice and I’ve got nowhere else to go,” she said.

“United Utilities were here for quite a while on Saturday, gave us two sandbags and then left.

“We were woken up by the toilets bubbling on Sunday morning, came downstairs and it was just gushing through the door – we just had to sit on the steps with the dog.

“We have a box full of my son’s baby photos, and although a few sentimental items have been saved – those are all sodden.”

Fire crews, council workers and United Utilities were involved in helping to clear the waters, but residents are still left with a major clean-up operation and counting the cost, stacking ruined carpets and furniture outside their homes.

As life goes on, many tenants are left in houses that they can’t stay in, with some houses facing no electricity, washing facilities and empty cupboards.

Joanna Kuziora lives on the street with her husband, two children and their dog and is currently having to sleep at a friend’s house.

“The council have said that they can’t help us, as they have 600 families to deal with and as we’re homeowners, they have nothing to give us, we must go through our insurance.

“We’ve been told if we can to stay with family but we have no family in the UK. We have no towels, no blankets and we’re charging our phones at a friends.”

It took firefighters hours to pump the water out as their equipment struggled with the sheer amount of it, but it is not yet clear if the flooding was made worse by a burst water main and investigations continue.