With the rain pouring down for the past week, many of us can take solace in the fact that we can return to the safety and comfort of our homes for protection against the elements.

But for some Andover residents, even their homes can’t protect them from the deluge of water that comes when it begins to rain.

Whether it’s blocked drains or overflowing drainage systems, they’ve suffered thousands of pounds in damages, and a number of them have spoken to the Advertiser to criticise Hampshire County Council after “unacceptable and persistent” flooding at their homes.

On Vigo Road, water accumulates on the road, before draining into the drives and houses of nearby residents. Reporters for the Advertiser have seen the drains become full, with water pooling across the road.

The affected properties are drained by soakaways, which are porous chambers designed to allow water to soak into the ground. However, these are quickly overwhelmed by the “considerable force of water,” causing the houses to be flooded.

In an email to Hampshire County Council, who are responsible for road maintenance, Vigo Road resident Jill Carman said that a few years ago, technicians “stated then that the soakaways in the road had not been made big enough, [but] nothing was done about it.

“A few years ago I complained about the flooding and the councillor said the report he received said it was due to the run off from the school and it was agreed the soakaways would be cleaned out often, which only lasted a while before it lapsed proved by the fact we had plants growing in ours this year.”

She continued: “We have had a problem with the water from the road for many years, but the [flooding] used to only happen when we had a storm, but now the rainfall is getting progressively heavier and this is a regular event.”

While Jill has high steps that help prevent water getting into the house, her neighbour, Professor Robert Chilcott, has not been so lucky. When the Advertiser spoke to him, he was busy carrying bags of damaged items from his home to the bins at the end of his drive.

The water has had a profound impact on the 50-year-old’s life, forcing him to return from holidays to fight water coming into his house, and even having an impact on some of the darker periods of his life. “I had to mop up the house on the day of my wife’s funeral,” he said.

It’s a similar story nearby in Pilgrims Way, where Kareshma Seedowal has had to combat blocked drains overflowing and flooding her house. On one occasion, this meant her husband “had to break down the door to let the water run out.”

“It’s impacted on our life,” she added. “If there’s heavy rain we can’t go anywhere as it floods.”

When she spoke to the Advertiser, she was cleaning up her house from recent water damage. “I have three children, and at 1:30 in the afternoon they’ve not even had breakfast as I’ve been dealing with the flood. I can’t look after my children and do the council’s job.”

Kareshma, who works for Hampshire County Council’s children’s services department, said that her previous reports to her employer have met with no response or acknowledgement.

The residents are keen to point out that they haven’t been taking the flooding lying down. Professor Chilcott said that he “had to fight for sandbags” for his home, as his home was not deemed to be at risk of floods. “It’s not as if I’ve sat here and done nothing,” he said. “I’ve installed a drain and a soakaway on the property myself.”

He’s also replaced his driveway with a permeable membrane to try and aid drainage, but this has been ripped by the floodwater, at “considerable cost” to replace. As a result of all the damage, which he has estimated as “likely to exceed £10,000,” he has opened a claim against Hampshire Highways.

Kareshma, meanwhile, has bought sandbags to try and protect her house, as well as buying a pump to try and clear the blocked drains. She’s also borrowed another from a neighbour to try and protect her home.

Their cases have been taken up by borough councillor Iris Andersen, who said that the current situation was “just ridiculous.”

“My phone has been going 24/7 with calls,” she said, with residents across St Mary’s ward reaching out to her at the weekend (October 3/4). “My heart goes out to them,” she added.

She has been in touch with the 101 service and Hampshire County Council on the behalf of many affected residents. In Kareshma’s case, this resulted in the highways team coming to clean the blocked drains.

Councillor Rob Humby, Deputy Leader of Hampshire County Council and Executive Member for Economy, Transport and Environment, said: “This weekend we experienced some exceptionally wet weather with a month’s worth of rain falling in 48 hours. With rainfall of this quantity and intensity traditional highway drainage systems and household rainwater systems simply become overwhelmed however well maintained they are, they are not able to cope with rainfall of this intensity.

“The County Council is committed to doing all it can to reduce the risk of flooding for communities across Hampshire, and has invested millions of pounds in flood mitigation schemes, and in upgrading drainage systems, but with over 5,000 miles of roads under our care, it will take a prolonged programme of investment and work to upgrade all the drainage systems. Landowners have the main legal responsibility for safeguarding their land and property against flooding, including maintaining ditches that convey water across their land. Highway drainage is regularly maintained including cleaning the gullies, which can sometime appear to be blocked when there is debris on or in the grating; the Pilgrims Way and Vigo Road gullies were last cleansed in September this year.

“I appreciate how distressing flooding can be and how damaging it is for residents and businesses. If people believe their properties are at risk from flooding, we would strongly recommend they take measures to protect their property. Flood prevention advice is available on the County Council’s web pages: https://www.hants.gov.uk/News/02102020stormalex.”