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A day before Capital of Culture starts; and THIS happens!
Topic Started: Dec 31 2007, 09:45 AM (31 Views)
Berethorn Liverpool
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Mister B-man
Hundreds flooded out as water main bursts

Dec 31 2007 by Vicky Anderson, Liverpool Daily Post
Flooding in Huyton

Flooding in Huyton

TENS of thousands of homes were without water, hundreds were flooded and a major route into Liverpool will be closed for at least a week following a massive water mains burst in Knowsley over the weekend.

The 44-inch diameter water main burst on Liverpool Road in Huyton near the Bluebell pub, at around 7.30pm on Saturday evening, causing a section of road to collapse.

The clean-up operation began in earnest yesterday as homes and businesses affected by the flooding salvaged property and cleared mud from buildings and driveways.

Homes in Liverpool Road and the adjacent Cartmel Road area were the worst affected as they were flooded throughout the ground floor and residents reported water rising to knee-height.

Robert Gaffney had been watching the Everton match at his parents’ Liverpool Road home.

They knew nothing about what had happened until they opened the front door and water came pouring into the house. He said: “It was a shock. The water rose to about 1ft in five minutes, it was unbelievable. There was no stopping it; it just flooded in through the front and the back.”

Furniture, Christmas trees and other property ruined by mud lay outside the affected homes. Some spent yesterday pulling up floorboards.

Resident Sandra Moore said: “We’ve had to take out the wooden floorboards and the three-piece suite. I was out at the time it happened so didn’t realise what was going on. I haven’t been to sleep yet. I had just had it decor- ated and was going to have a New Year’s Eve party to christen it.”

Farther up the road on the Liverpool-bound side of the carriageway, a row of shops had all been flooded.

Cathy Waring, from Million Hairs salon, said they were working to clear the mess so as not to let down clients today.

She added: “Everyone’s helped and we’re going to reopen as we can’t let people down. We’ve lost some stuff, and the units are black around the bottoms and we’ve had to hose down the chairs. But we’ve been lucky really.”

John Foy, manager of the Freshxpress supermarket, said thousands of pounds of stock was destroyed, and he did not know if the store would be open today.

He added: “There is mud everywhere, all the computer systems have gone down and everything in the office is flooded. We have lost about £3,500 in sales, and we are talking thousands of pounds of leftover Christmas stock that has been ruined.”

The burst affected water supplies for around 37,000 homes in the Huyton area before engineers were able to shut off the burst main and reroute water through other parts of the supply network in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Loss adjusters from United Utilities have begun the task of visiting some 200 homes in the area that have been flooded, to make arrangements with the residents to assist with the clean-up and to deal with compensation.

Any resident affected who has not yet been visited should contact 0845 746 2200.

United Utilities water operations director Gary Dixon said: “Fortunately, bursts on this scale are rare but we sympathise with all the families who have been affected by the flooding. We are writing to all the residents affected and we will be placing a mobile information point at the Fairclough Centre, on Liverpool Road, so that people can easily contact us with any queries.”

Police said last night that Liverpool Road will remain closed between the junctions of Cuper Crescent and Bluebell Lane and Primrose Drive for several weeks while a large section of road is repaired.

Diversions are in place but police are urging motorists to avoid the area if possible, as long tailbacks are expected. Anyone intending to travel to Merseyside from outside the area, via the A57, is advised to seek an alternative route. Bus companies are also operating along the diversion.

Chief Inspector Gary Hilton said: "I would like to thank the public for their co-operation during this time.

"I would also like to reassure residents that all the agencies involved in this incident are working hard to ensure that disruption is kept to a minimum and that the carriageway is reopened as soon as possible."

LOG on to our website at www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk for a picture gallery of the floods.

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Major route into the city closed off for feck knows how long. Way to go UU, way to go. :rolleyes:
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