Weekend weather warning for Derbyshire

James Jesic, waste water manager for Severn Trent said: “We’re aware that bad weather is coming and we’re working hard to get ready for it. We’ve already got plenty of staff on the phones in our call centre and lots of teams available out and about across the region to deal with flooding and any other issues the bad weather may bring. We’re also out and about keeping an eye on those areas with a high risk of flooding.

“Unfortunately, in stormy weather, the drains and sewers often have significantly more water flowing through them. When we get a lot of rain in one go, it has a hard time sinking into the ground; so it just runs off the surface and goes directly into drains and sewers.”

And James is offering the following advice for customers who are experiencing flooding:

“If you have flooding at your home, check to see if it’s just rainwater or if it’s sewage that has come from an overflowing sewer, possibly through a manhole cover in your garden or outside your property. If it’s just rainwater, the flooding should subside when it stops raining, although it can take up to four hours for water to drain away, so be patient. Where sewage is escaping this is obviously a priority for us, so please call us on 0800 783 4444 and we’ll get a team out to help as quickly as possible.

“If you’re concerned about flooding from drains and gullies in the road, you should call the local council as they are responsible for road drainage, but again, we generally find that the flooding will go away when it stops raining.

The number of phone calls into Severn Trent can get extremely high when the rain comes and customers may have to wait longer than usual for a response, so following the advice above could save some time. If the flooding is due to rainwater, there is no need to call unless it is still there some time after the rain has stopped.

James added: “We’d like to reassure our customers that we are working hard to prepare for and deal with the bad weather and we’ll do everything that we can do to deal with flooding issues as quickly as possible.”