MS sufferer hits out after long wait for flood repairs
Burst pipe misery rumbling on
A Buchlyvie tenant with multiple sclerosis this week hit out at the amount of time it has taken her landlord to tackle damage caused by flooding.
Water inundated the ground floor of Gail Brown’s Montgomery Place home in the early hours of November 30 due to a burst washing machine washer and pipe in freezing weather.
However, six weeks later work is still ongoing to restore the Rural Stirling Housing Association house where Gail has lived with sons – 15-year-old Ruaridh and Cameron (12) – for 10 years.
She said last week: “I feel the support I have received from RSHA since the flooding has been very poor.
“I’m very weak on my left side and unstable on my feet because of the MS. All this has had a terrible effect on my health. I have had chest infections and fatigue.
“They really should have been on the case from the start, especially with my condition, but here we are 48 days later and things are far from being back to normal.
“It was only this week that the cracked flooring was lifted leaving exposed broken tiles which are hazardous. There is also a lot of dust. I’m told this work will take months. “In my view it’s not habitable.”
Gail moved into the RSHA house as her Stirling Council property had been unsuitable because of her MS.
At 3am on Saturday, November 30 she had been wakened by the whining and scratching of her spaniel Dudley.
When she went to investigate she found almost half a foot of water covering the ground floor of the house which comprises the kitchen, dining room, hall, living room and a toilet. Gail said: “At first I didn’t know I was walking through water.
“When I opened the kitchen door the water was over my slippers - about five to six inches deep.
“I thought someone had left the tap on. When I realised that wasn’t the problem I looked under the sink area and managed to turn the water off.
“It had been coming from the cold water intake to the washing machine. It had been well below freezing that night. I later found out that water had frozen straight through, cracking the washer and bursting the pipe. I had to mop up myself with the contents of my linen cupboard.
“The way I have been left for this length of time is nothing short of disgraceful. To me this is something that should have taken a week to sort out rather than more than a month and a half and counting.”
A Rural Stirling Housing Association spokesman said this week a housing officer and plumber had been out at Montgomery Place on December 2 followed by a technical officer a few days later to assess the flooring.
He added: “As a gesture of goodwill we are arranging for vinyl flooring to be fitted so that we can restore the kitchen area.
“RSHA believes we have acted entirely properly at all times but, inevitably, in cases where there is flooding it can take time to restore things to normal. “We are available to discuss any matters of concern to our tenant.”