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An underground car park was submerged in several feet of flood water writing off a number of cars — and almost a month on the property management company has failed to act.
People living at Riverbank House in Tonbridge were hit by flooding just before Christmas, but more than four weeks on, still find parts of the building submerged in nearly five feet of water.
Parts of the block were submerged just before Christmas
One householder, Pippa Garrott, paid £19,000 for her Honda Civic 13 years ago, and describes it as her "baby", but has been left frustrated by the continued presence of the water, and the apparent lack of action from the company running the building.
The only thing that's changed, the 37-year-old said, is the growing smell coming from the basement.
"I didn't know until I went down to the car with my arms full of Christmas presents," she said.
"I saw it was under water with its headlights on and I just burst into tears. It's been completely written off and I'm still in shock even after all this time.
"It completely ruined my Christmas because I had to cancel appointments and trips to see family because I didn't have a car."
Miss Garrott, who works for a charity in London, says communication with Pembroke Property Management has been limited, and was pleased to hear the issue has been taken up by local councillors and now Tonbridge and Malling MP Tom Tugendhat, who said it was "outrageous" the building was still flooded.
He added: "The management agent is hiding behind insurers and the Environment Agency and not actually pumping the water out.
"This leaves residents in a really tricky position. There are cars down there with personal items in, and they can't hire or buy another car until they recover their vehicle.
"This is unacceptable and I'm going to be raising it with ministers. You cannot treat residents like this."
A spokesman for Pembroke said: "Flood prevention panels were in place at Riverbank House before the flood, in accordance with the flood defence plan commissioned by the freeholder.
"The riverbank was not breached, but it appears that the water came into the basement through the storm drain. South East Water are investigating installing non return valves for the storm drain.
"There are significant costs involved in extracting and disposing of circa 1000 cubic metres of water from a basement car park.
"Leaseholder funds are not available to pay for this cost and we have raised a claim with the building’s insurers and appointed specialist surveyors to manage the claim.
"The insurance company requires their own loss adjuster to be involved in approving quotations for the works where potential costs exceed £10,000. We are also mindful of environmental and health and safety issues.
"With regards the method of extraction, water samples are being taken to test whether it is safe to pump the water into the river.
"The surveyors are also liaising with the Environment Agency. If the water cannot be pumped into the river, it will need to be removed by tanker to a safe disposal depot.
"In the meantime, we have asked the insurer’s loss adjuster to help validate a tenant’s claim with regards her car insurance company."
