Broken water main causes flooding problems
Local residents of South Hinksey awoke to an unwelcome surprise this morning (17 February).
Oxfordshire County Council Fire and Rescue Service were called just before seven o'clock by a resident who had water in their property that was affecting their electrical supply.
The nearest fire appliance from Rewley Road was sent and found a substantial amount of water affecting about half a square mile in South Hinksey. The water was coming from a large split water main and the quantity of water resulted in depths of knee high flooding. This had affected about a dozen homes directly and the flooding was spreading and increasing.
This incident involved the County Council Emergency Planning Department and the Environment Agency, the Fire Service attended with three fire appliances, their Rescue Tender which has a boat capacity and the High Volume Pumping from Banbury. Firefighters wearing dry suits helped to evacuate local residents and to control and direct the flow of the water.
Thames Water made a quick attendance and were able to isolate the majority of the leak. Once this had been done the water levels dropped fairly quickly.
Group Manager David Heycock, Oxfordshire County Council Fire and Rescue Service said: "Until the split water main had been isolated we were dealing with a large amount of water that was having a major impact on households. We mobilised a number of resources to deal with the scale of flooding that we were faced with. The resources on scene were dealing with the immediate situation and putting plans into place to deal with continued flooding.”
“The fire service were being supported by the Red Cross who provided support for the residents affected and the County Council's Emergency Planning Department with logistics and planning. The water levels dropped quickly once the leak had been isolated and we were then able to focus on removing the water from the affected properties."
This winter has been dry and the county has not experienced any flooding issues. There is advice available on the County Councils website for residents who want to consider what they can do to prepare for possible flooding.
