Major downpours over the weekend caused considerable flooding in Essex, as well as to many parts of the county, with an investigation into the issue now being launched by Anglian Water.
Property owners in Southend suffered thousands of pounds-worth of damage in recent days when drainage systems were unable to cope with the heavy rainfall, the BBC reports.
According to figures from the Met Office, the area saw 64 mm – 2.5 inches – of rainfall in just four hours on Saturday, with Southend one of the worst affected places in terms of heavy rain.
Essex fire services received more than 400 calls relating to properties flooding over the course of the weekend, with Southend, Canvey Island, Rayleigh, Westcliff, Basildon, Billericay and Leigh all badly affected.
A statement from Anglian Water read: “The flooding in Essex this weekend was the unfortunate result of very heavy rainfall overwhelming the drainage systems.
“We are committed to work with the other agencies responsible for parts of the drainage networks, including the Environment Agency, highways and council, to investigate and understand if any lessons can be learned.”
This is all well and good, but home and business owners in the area are already facing large repair bills following this latest incident, with landlord of the Horse and Groom pub in Rochford Danny Murley telling BBC News damage to his property and the estimated six weeks it will now take to fix the flood damage could lead to his loss of earnings of up to £50,000.
Meanwhile, a similar story was related by George Zinonos, owner of Ye Olde Chippy on Marine Parade in Southend.
Property owners keen to protect the financial investment in their home or business might like to take out insurance for flood risk areas from GSI Insurance Services (Southern) Limited, with staff offering expert guidance on the different policies that could best suit each customer’s circumstances.