A woman has described her life as an “absolute nightmare” every time there’s a heavy rainfall as it transforms the front of her house into a river. Julie Randle, who has lived in the Plymouth property for two decades, has been “struggling to get in and out” of her home during periods of heavy rain for years.
Earlier this year, Plymouth City Council installed a new drain at her property in an attempt to mitigate the problem, but according to Julie, it hasn’t made any difference. The 63-year-old, who shares the house with her husband, daughter and grandson, doesn’t believe the drain is large enough.
As reported by Plymouth Live, she explained: “Getting in and out is a nightmare. Water has gone straight into the car too, we have to keep moving them to avoid them flooding. Our neighbours are also affected. It runs all over the grass and comes up to the steps.”
Julie and her family no longer want to tolerate the issue and are demanding action. When the water level rises, they “struggle to leave the property”.
After undergoing two hip replacements and a knee replacement, Julie is tired of fighting against the water. She said: “It happens every year, the council has made the drain bigger, but it still floods.
“There are leaves in the drain and it seems to be worse in the middle. I don’t want to put up with this for another year, having to go out in welly boots or going out the back through my neighbour’s home.”
Another local has reported a dire situation outside her home, where “every single one is blocked” when talking about the 22 drains in the area. She highlighted the large tree by her property contributing to the problem due to falling leaves.
Expressing her frustration, she said: “I just look out the window when it rains and I’m dreading it, they’ve got to do something. My grandson leaving the house to go to school and us leaving for work when it’s like this is a nightmare.”
Responding to the concerns, a Plymouth City Council spokesperson said: “We’re aware of flooding issues in this area of the city following the recent heavy rainfall. We have previously surveyed these drains and made some upgrades that we hoped would be effective.
“Although this particular incident was not raised with [us] directly, clearly there’s more work to do in this area and we’ll be working with residents and South West Water on a resolution to this as soon as we can.
“We’d urge residents to report issues like this to us at www.plymouth.gov.uk/roads-and-pavements.”