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A mother whose family home was flooded on Christmas day says that while the floods are bad, the aftermath is worse.
Householders hit by flooding at the end of last year know exactly what ordeal is being faced by families whose homes are underwater.
Jacquie Marr’s semi in Leatherhead, Surrey, was flooded on Christmas Eve and seven weeks on her family is a long way from moving back.
She said: “Really when the flood water goes away, that’s the beginning.
“The water was up to a foot and I don’t think we really got our head around the fact they would have to remove the plaster up to a metre.”
The flooring has been ripped up and the radiators removed. It has left the ground floor an empty shell while the bricks dry out with the help of fans and dehumidifiers.
Mrs Marr and her husband Dave watched as the water from the River Mole seeped beneath the doors and rose up through the floor.
By the early hours of Christmas morning it was gone, leaving them to deal with the mess and the emotional trauma of it all.
Mrs Marr said: “When I first came in after it was stripped out I have to say it was devastating … It’s tough going and you take it out on people closest to you.”
Thankfully, Mrs Marr says the insurance company has been fantastic, quickly organising a home to rent and even someone to pack and then unpack their belongings.
And the work is well under way but it could still be June before the family can move back in and finally start turning their rebuilt house back into a home.
She said: “We have heard some horror stories about people not being covered or having to get three quotes for things to be replaced but we have had none of that.”
It was the first flood in the property in 45 years. Now it has happened again, there is the fear it will not be the last time.
“You know you just have to play the odds,” she said. “This is our home and this is where we have chosen to live … so I don’t want to think about whether we have floods again.”
Source: Sky News
