Mum’s anger at home flooding
A Sunderland mum was left feeling ‘helpless’ after being refused a temporary home following two floods which left sewage under the floor boards and a rat in her garden.
Lynsey Talbot says she “has had enough” after a bathroom pipe caused two floods in her family home in South Hylton, leaving an ‘awful’ smell of sewage and the rat.
The mum-of-three says she contacted her housing association Gentoo to ask for the family to be re-homed while work was being carried out to remove the sewage from beneath the floorboards, but her request was denied.
The 44-year-old says the floorboards in the living area have been lifted to suck the sewage out using industrial hoovers by Gentoo – leaving a ‘terrible’ smell in her home.
Shesaid:“Theywouldn’trehome me and the family, it’s ridiculous because we can’t live here while this is being sorted out–thesmellisabsolutelydisgusting and when I found the rat,itreallywasthefinalstraw.
"My little girl can’t play in the garden because she’s scared of seeing another rat.”
Lynsey says she has ‘waited months’ for Gentoo to send workmen to rectify the ongoing flooding which started in March last year.
Sheadded:“Wehadnoelectricity for two weeks because the water from the flood had got to the plug sockets in the living room.
“Then we started to notice a strange smell, it just started getting worse and when someone was sent out to sort the electrics they said a joiner wouldneedtocomeandliftthe floorboards.”
Themam,wholivesonEveshaminSouthHyltonhasbeen living in the house for the last 12 years, but says the flooding problem started during the first national lockdown.
She said: “I spoke to the housing manager at Gentoo to arrangebeingre-housedwhile the work was being done, but theysaidthiscouldn’thappen.
"IcriedalldaybecauseIjust felt helpless.”
Nigel Wilson, Chief Executive Officer at Gentoo Group, said: “We were made aware of an issue with a blocked drain at one of our properties in Evesham, South Hylton.
“Drainage Engineers attended the property the followingdaytocleartheblocked drain from the neighbouring property and remove the water from underneath the tenant’s floor.
“We are conducting an investigation to identify the root cause of the problem.”