Residents ‘panicked’ as flood water gushes up to their doors
BURST WATER MAIN SUBMERGES CITY CENTRE STREETS
PEOPLE living near the Hull city centre streets that flooded over the weekend have spoken of their shock after water gushed dangerously close to their homes.
The area around Osborne Street and Midland Street was completely submerged after a water main ruptured close to Bonus Arena.
Emergency services rushed to the scene to tackle the “serious” flooding, as crews fought to bring the rising waters under control.
One woman described the feeling of “panic” when she saw the rising water levels creep up towards her home.
She said: “I’m trying to get to my house. “I saw this and panicked because I can see the water is right up to my door, so I best go check on it.”
Meanwhile, Darren Spencer said the flood was worse than he imagined. He said: “I’m shocked by it. I knew it was going on but I didn’t expect this.”
Humberside Police put up a cordon to prevent people entering the potentially dangerous flood waters, while all access to vehicles was also denied.
The fire service also called for residents to move their vehicles away from the danger zone as quickly as possible to prevent any further damage.
It is understood the worst of the flooding hit at around 1.30pm and emergency services were quick to the scene.
They blocked Midland, Osborne and Great Thornton Street in both directions to allow crews to tackle the problem.
Rebecca Collins was out when the flood began and says she is worried about when her street will return to normal.
“I’ve just come back from work and seen this. I can’t get to my house,” she said.
“What am I supposed to do? I’ve got to walk around, but I’m worried because no one knows when it’ll be sorted.”
Tony Smith was equally shocked. He said: “I can’t believe it. I know there was a flood a couple of weeks ago from the rain, but that came as it went.
“This is really bad. It’s a good job I’m not at work today.”
Another woman said: “I saw it on Hull Live. My brother lives on the ground floor flat so thought I’d go check on him, but I can’t get through.
“I went past on the way back from work last night and it was just puddles, but look at this. The bit where the road has come up is the worst bit, they’ll have to fix that quickly.”
Humberside Police urged people “not to panic”.
They tweeted: “Water is dispersing in Hull city centre. Don’t panic.
“There has been some minor disruption on the roads. Surrounding roads will be closed for some time around the Osborne Street, St Lukes Street, and Midland Street area.”