Gosport families 'lost everything' as heavy rainfall leads to homes being flooded

Locke Terrace in Gosport is one of many streets that have fallen foul of last week’s dismal weather, with four properties along the road being flooded on the ground floor. Water has been rushing into their homes since Saturday – but they say their housing association, Guinness, has refused to help.

Resident Jenna-Lee Power said: ‘At its worst point we were living in 2ft of water. We’ve been trying to pump out the water but it just kept on coming through.

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‘It came through the garden and into the kitchen – all of the cupboards and the rest of my kitchen has been destroyed too.

‘I tried to call our housing manager but was told they “didn’t want to be disturbed on weekends” which is ridiculous. We’ve been left to fend for ourselves.’

Neighbour David James, 52, says he spent all weekend trying to contact the housing company.

‘We are still waiting for the water to be pumped out,’ he said.

‘There’s simply too much water coming through for us to realistically do anything. I was up at 3am trying to lift things out of the water in my kitchen.

‘Guinness said they knew nothing about it, but I was trying to phone them all weekend – I called 37 times in total. It’s disgusting.’

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Carer Mr James said the association had offered to put the residents up in a hotel, but says that doesn’t solve the problem.

He said: ‘For the people who haven’t been able to get things out of the water, they have lost everything. Some might not even have home insurance to cover the damage.

‘We might not have much but we do try to keep our houses looking nice and tidy – now everything is ruined.

‘Our kitchens are destroyed, you can’t do any cooking or washing.’

A spokesman for Guinness said: ‘We are sorry for the shortfall in service provided over this last weekend. A specialist contractor should have been asked to attend and repair the faulty water pump earlier than was the case. We have spoken to residents, and are working to ensure they have the support they need as homes are dried out and follow up works are completed.

‘We have offered temporary accommodation, but this has been declined.’

Elsewhere in the region, homes came close to being flooded in Westway, Havant. The properties there were reportedly built on flood plain land, with residents concerned that heavier rainfall could have flooded their homes too.