Council say drains and gullies are ‘well maintained’ having emptied around 20,000 gullies across West Northants in six months
Roads, fields, houses, cars and boats have been left submerged in water across Northampton as torrential rain battered the town for two solid days.
The stormy conditions have put extreme pressure on the road network, causing localised flooding and overwhelming ditches and brooks due to the rapid and intense rainfall not able to drain away fast enough across the system, according to West Northants Council (WNC). The flooding has left many town residents taking to social media to vent frustration about blocked drains and asking WNC why they’ve not cleared them.
The Chron put this question to the council and Cllr Adam Brown, Leader of WNC, responded by saying: “Although the rainfall has eased off overnight, the high levels of rivers, reservoirs and water outlets across the area remain extremely high and could still be breached, so we would urge everyone to continue to take extra care.
“We are working closely with the fire service, police, environment agency and other partners on responding to the ongoing weather events and continue to closely monitor the situation.”
“It’s clear that this extreme rainfall has caused significant challenges for our roads network, with the rapid, sheer volume of rain that has fallen in the past three days putting pressure on the drainage system.
“Although we work hard to ensure drains and gullies are well maintained – emptying around 20,000 gullies across West Northants in the past six months alone – the intensity of severe weather events like this will unfortunately lead to some roads flooding.
“Our response teams have been working round the clock to attend reports across the area, supporting the fire service and police to ensure residents are safe during these extreme weather conditions.”
A number of flood warnings remain in place across Northampton this afternoon. Highways response teams for Kier and West Northamptonshire Council have been out and about supporting emergency services, having attended 185 incidents since Saturday, 149 of which were flooding related with the remainder a mix of emergencies, such as fallen trees and dislodged/broken manhole covers.
The Chron has asked WNC for a list of road closures currently in place.
In the event of an emergency where someone is in danger, they should dial 999 or 112. Further information and guidance on flooding and to report it visit report a flood here