People in South Terrace, Littlehampton, expressed their anger at the water company as there was a similar incident several years ago.
The scene of the flooding in Littlehampton on Wednesday night (Image: Eddie Mitchell)
On Thursday morning, neighbours could be seen beginning the major clean-up operation while Southern Water tankers continued to drain what was left of the floodwater.
Southern Water workers have been on the scene today (Image: The Argus)
Floodgates and sandbags had been put against doors and gates but in the end they were no match for the high volume of water that flooded people’s homes.
Many of Robert Davison’s possessions, including rare first edition books and his stamp collection that he has been adding to for decades, have been “contaminated” and damaged by sewage.
The 59-year-old said he was at home when the water started coming in. He tried to create a barrier but within ten minutes it was up to his knees.
“Not only was it coming in through the door it was coming up through the toilet, the bath and it was even coming through the basement,” he said.
Mr Davison, who has lived in the street for around eight years, said another incident due to the pump’s failure happened in October 2021.
“It was much worse this time,” he said.
“Nobody will give you insurance for this area so I have no insurance.
“I’ve lost everything and because it’s sewage water it’s all contaminated.”
The aftermath of the flooding in Mr Davison’s home (Image: The Argus)
Mr Davison said Southern Water staff told him they will try to find him alternative accommodation.
“I don’t know what they’re going to be offering,” he said.
Mr Davison said he was promised that the issue would be fixed after flooding previously.
“They promised the last time that they would fix it but they’ve not fixed it.”
Another resident, who did not wish to give her name, said people are “fed up” with Southern Water and that the response from the company has been “shambolic”.
She said water, that went three feet high started to come up into her flat at about 7pm through her bedroom. She said it also came through her toilet and bath.
She said she struggled to get through to Southern Water when she called its emergency line and when she did, she was advised to call 999. She said firefighters could not get to work until Southern Water turned the water off.
“The fire brigade was here for three hours and were kicking their heels because they couldn’t move it forward until Southern Water arrived on the scene to manually switch it off,” she said.
Flooding in Littlehampton (Image: The Argus)
Her landlord added: “They said the pumping station wasn’t working and that it had to be manually overridden, which they didn’t do until all the flats were already ankle deep in water.
“They assured us last time that it would never happen again. It would be dealt with.”
The pair described the response from Southern Water as a “shambles”.
“When the big tankers turned up they didn’t have the right hoses,” said the landlord.
“The flats were kept under water for longer than they needed to.”
Southern Water confirmed its foreshore water pumping station “experienced a technical failure” which, together with heavy rain, caused the flooding.
The scene of the flooding in Littlehampton (Image: Eddie Mitchell)
A spokesman for Southern Water said: “We experienced a technical failure at our Foreshore Water Pumping Station in the early hours of Thursday, February 19.
“The heavy rainfall combined with the technical fault have resulted in customers being impacted by internal flooding at St Catherine’s Road and South Terrace, Littlehampton.
“We have worked with the emergency services to help manage the flooding throughout the night.
“Our customer team have also been on hand to help those residents affected. Our engineering teams have managed to get the site operational.
“We apologise to those customers who have been affected.”
Firefighters tackling the floodwater (Image: Eddie Mitchell)
A spokeswoman for West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service said: “We were called at 7.20pm last night (February 18) to reports of flooding in South Terrace, Littlehampton.
“Joint fire control mobilised three fire engines to the scene.
“Upon arrival crews were met with rising water levels in the surrounding area and quickly identified that several basement properties were under threat of flooding. Firefighters pumped floodwater from the affected properties.
“Sussex Police and officers from Southern Water and Arun District Council were also in attendance.
“The last crew left the scene at 12.45am.”
A spokeswoman for Sussex Police said: “Police were called at 8.15pm on Wednesday, February 18, following a report of flooding in South Terrace, Littlehampton.
“We supported partners including the fire service and the local council to make the area safe for the public.”
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