Havant residents' fears as water pours down stairwells during evacuation

Disabled, vulnerable and elderly people were forced to vacate Solent House in Swarraton Road, Havant, on Friday (July 21) evening after a reported power and water outage wreaked havoc.

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Bedridden residents had to be carried down as mayhem erupted in the Guinness Partnership housing block. Some residents with pets were forced to stay if they had no other accommodation as hotels refused to take them.

One resident said they called Guinness at 7am on Friday about water in the flat not working but was “dismissed multiple times” despite calling as the flood progressed. “These calls continued throughout the day from residents in the flats. By 8pm the water was flooding the stairwells all the way to the ground floor, it was coming out of the lift shafts, was flooding the hallways and some of the upper floor flats were flooding inside,” the person said.

“Guinness staff had no idea what they were doing and were downplaying the situation. Multiple calls and a lot of persistence later the fire brigade and fire chief arrived despite being told yet again to stand down. It was only then that the seriousness of the situation came to light. The water had flooded into the mains.”

Guinness was accused of being “incompetent” over its handling with the resident adding: “There were people sat on grass verges outside in the cold until 2.30am when they were told to go back inside to sleep as they couldn’t be given emergency accommodation at that time. So tenants were sent back into a building to sleep with no electric or heating, or means to heat any food.

“There were people with young children, there were vulnerable adults, people with pets and that’s just a few examples. No blankets were offered to those needing it. It was other tenants that helped with distributing and providing blankets for those that needed it. It was also thanks to the fire brigade that water was provided. Not Guinness.”

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A female who lives in the block said: “They evacuated the flat but any residents with pets had to stay there if they had no other accommodation as hotels wouldn’t take them. My mother was left in the flat with our dog and cat with no power or water. (Guinness) have let us down a number of times. Residents in the flat have been let down enough.”

Another person reported disabled “bedridden residents being carried down in darkness”.

A spokesman for Hampshire fire service said: “A (fire) officer was called on Friday evening shortly after 9pm following reports of a burst water tank causing significant flooding in a building. Building contractors stemmed the leak from the affected tank before SSE engineers isolated the electrical supply.

“Firefighters supported the housing company and Havant Borough Council’s Emergency Planning team with evacuating the building. Firefighters left the scene shortly after 3am.”

A spokesperson for The Guinness Partnership said: “We continue to support residents who have been temporarily displaced following the significant leak in the building last Friday evening. Works are being carried out to the building so that residents can return home as soon as possible. We are grateful to the Fire & Rescue Service for their support on Friday evening and since.”