‘Nightmare’ after Horsham homes devastated by flood

Matthew Alder, of Station Road, spoke out after a burst water main left his garden ‘like a lake’.

He said: “My heart just sank. The kitchen and bathroom were about a foot under water. Part of my hallway was under water.

“There was just water and mud everywhere. It was already beginning to smell. It was quite a depressing scene to come home to.”

Southern Water apologised for the flood, which it said was caused by a water main which was damaged by a third party on November 11.

Russell Clark, also of Station Road, said the smell was ‘horrific’ when his house was flooded during the same incident.

He added: “It’s been a bit of a nightmare. There’s lots of mud on the road. It’s not great.

“We’re in the drying phase at the moment. This is just before Christmas.

“I was supposed to have a birthday party down here. We can’t now have that there. It’s going to be a significant amount of time before we get it back to where we want it to be.”

Russell said the clean up operation would be ‘hell’ and added that according to his insurance provider, his two-year-old kitchen needs to be totally ripped out and replaced.

The noise from two air circulators and a dehumidifier, which are drying out his property, is ‘unbelievable’, he said.

Matthew said he had to move his family out of his home for ‘a couple of days’.

He added: “I have got a young son and didn’t feel like it was safe for him to be there.

“We were just left with the mud and the dampness everywhere.”

“My main concern at the moment is the long term damage it’s going to do to the house, I don’t know what damage the water will do.”

A Southern Water spokesman said: “We know flooding can be traumatic and we’re very sorry to hear about the difficulties experienced by these customers at Station Road in Horsham.

“Once reported to us we sent specialist crews to carry out repairs to the pipe.

“After the repairs were made we attended the affected properties to jet-wash paths to clear debris. In these instances, we always advise customers to contact their insurance providers.

“We apologise again for the inconvenience caused by these emergency repair works.”