Finsbury Park floods: Residents evacuated in north London housed in temporary accommodation overnight

Katy Clifton8 October 2019

Residents unable to return home after burst water mains flooded a north London neighbourhood are being housed in temporary accommodation overnight.

Up to 150 properties were affected by flooding after the pipe ruptured on Queens Drive in Finsbury Park on Tuesday morning.

Hackney Council said it will work through the night to help residents still affected, saying that it is working with Thames Water to find them accommodation.

Thames Water said around 100 to 150 properties suffered either "external garden or internal water ingress" within the affected area.

The fire service said an area measuring 600 by 200 metres had been flooded to a depth of around one metre.

A flooded conservatory in Finsbury Park
PA/Anita Anderson

"The Council will continue to work through the night to support residents affected by the burst water main," a Hackney Council spokesman said on Tuesday evening.

"As soon as the water subsides we will assess any damage and have a team out to clean and clear the affected streets.

"Thames Water, with our support, are hoping to find accommodation for everyone affected."

Flooded streets in Finsbury Park
PA/Vicki Lockhart

The council said anyone evacuated from their home should go to the rest centre at West Reservoir Centre, off Green Lanes.

Thames Water said most affected customers in the area now have water supplies restored, besides "a few isolated issues".

It said in an earlier statement its specialist engineers had stopped the flow as of 1.30pm.

Finsbury Park flooding - In pictures

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Around 100 company representatives were in the area to take care of residents' needs and handle all compensation claims.

The company said the burst occurred on one of its 36-inch wide pipes, resulting in other areas of north London losing their water supply, or experiencing low pressure, for "less than" four hours.

Floods in Finsbury Park
PA

London Fire Brigade station manager Jonathan Parker said: "Crews have been visiting affected properties and leading residents to safety where necessary, as well working hard to pump water away from the area and prevent flooding from spreading to other properties."

A LFB spokesman told the Standard that firefighters will remain at the scene into Tuesday evening.

Abi Glover, 27, who lives in a first-floor flat at St John's Court in Queens Drive, told PA that the ground-floor properties in her building were "completely flooded".

She said: "The water started at 7.40am and it has not stopped.

"Everyone has been wading out with no shoes on."

The flooding in Finsbury Park on Tuesday morning
Lenny Martin

A Thames Water spokesman said: "We're really sorry to any customers affected by our burst main this morning.

"Our top priority now, having stopped the water escaping and restored supplies back to normal, is to support those impacted by the flooding."

The spokesman said the company is spending more than £1 million each day on its network to reduce leaks.

The company said many of its 100,000 miles of pipes throughout London are "well over 100 years old".

"We're also exploring all modern technology and techniques to gain tighter control of our ageing network to reduce the risk of disruption like this into the future," the company spokesman said.

Thames Water said a full investigation into the burst will take place as a "matter of course".

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