After warning the Environment Agency and local police force on the morning of Saturday 3rd October, Swan Road resident, Indy Hothi was woken up at 6am this morning (Sunday 4th October) by the fire brigade calling on him to begin evacuating his home.
Heavy rainfall over the weekend has caused the River Colne to rise, particularly in the Uxbridge and Cowley areas, leading many homes to be flooded and residents evacuated. One of the worst affected areas has been Swan Road, West Drayton, where over 30-40 households have been evacuated. One of the residents affected, economist Indy Hothi, had called the Environment Agency and the local police brigade on Saturday morning, 3rd October, to warn that river levels were rising rapidly despite the Environment agency monitor not showing this to be the case. Today, Indy was woken up at 6am by the fire brigade calling on him to evacuate. Speaking to us earlier today, Indy alluded to two key causes of the flood: rubbish dumped up stream that was causing a blockage; and another blockage caused by floating pennywort. He argued that this problem could have been prevented if the river had been regularly maintained and managed. However, due to budget cuts in recent years, this had not been the case. [River maintenance and management] ‘is absolutely vital work and the fact it is not being done is just negligence: negligence by the local Council assuming by just ignoring the problem, it will just go away’. Indy hopes that the flooding this weekend force action to be taken to ensure that the river is properly maintained. The Environment Agency are currently ‘constantly monitoring river levels and have staff on standby to attend to any blockages in the river’.
