Keswick residents return home three weeks after floods
Last updated at 12:38, Friday, 11 December 2009
Residents from a flood-hit Keswick street yesterday returned to their newly repaired homes – just three weeks after they were wrecked in the November 19 flood.
Three of the families who had lived in St Kentigern Close were presented with keys to their property thanks to the swift and efficient action of bosses at the Derwent and Solway Housing Association.
Thirteen of the street’s residents whose flats were swamped will be back home in time for Christmas.
The astonishing achievement is all thanks to flood defence measures introduced in the properties after they were swamped in 2005, the use of cutting edge drying technology, and sheer hard work, said Derwent and Solway boss Robert Porter.
The repair work was praised by the three tenants who collected their keys.
They included stonemason Adrian Stobbart, 40, who is now looking forward to spending Christmas at home with his seven-year-old son Kyle.
Adrian said: “The last time it happened I was away and lost absolutely everything. It was a nightmare.
“I was out the property for nine months. It was a real shock to the system.
“This time it wasn’t as bad.
“I had two hours to do what I could to prepare.
“We’d managed to get loads of sandbags in place and we managed to move quite a lot of stuff upstairs. I saved the TV, two carpets, and bits and pieces. In the end, there was 12 inches of water in the property.”
After the last flood, Derwent and Solway used waterproof “tanking” to seal walls, protecting them against any future flood. Flooded properties treated in this way do not generally need replastering.
Adrian added: “I was absolutely gobsmacked then they rang me and said I could collect the keys today.
“It will be great to be back home for Christmas. Being in a hotel sounds fantastic but it’s not your own space. Derwent and Solway have been fantastic: they’ve had a plan in place and everybody has worked hard.”
Also returning yesterday to Kentigern Close were Odette Atkinson, 59, and her husband Simon, 35. Odette, who has mobility problems, said: “Getting flooded again was horrendous for us.
“We were in Fleetwood, visiting family when a friend called and said were going to be flooded. We drove back as quickly as we could but nobody could get in at all.
“Simon tried but was up to his waist in water.
“We lost everything – all our furniture, the white goods, and a lot of precious things which you can’t put a price on, like all our wedding photos and the wedding video.
“But last time we were out of the flat for nine months, so it great to be back so quickly. Derwent and Solway have been amazing.”
Mr Porter said he was “amazingly proud” of the hard work by staff who had made the early return to the properties possible. He said: “All 13 of the people in those properties will be back before Christmas. Staff have worked tirelessly.”
He said the Association was also able to get eight high-tech driers – the only ones of their kind in the country – from the company Chemdry, which combined with the flood mitigation work done on the properties after the last flood had made the speedy repairs possible.
Arriva Insurance had also been “excellent,” said Mr Porter. He added that priority had been given to the most vulnerable residents.
First published at 11:20, Friday, 11 December 2009
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk
