Isle of Wight couple devastated as home floods again just weeks after they returned
A couple who had only just returned to their house on the Isle of Wight, have had to leave it again because of flooding.
Michael and Christine Cooper had to move out of their home in Brading in January this year when their house was flood-damaged.
Just weeks after they moved back in with brand new furniture, their home is once again flooded, with damages costing an estimated £200,000.
Michael Cooper said: "Water levels came straight up into the house, right through the brand new flooring from the previous flood."
He added: "We're unable to use the house once again. We're now back living in a hotel which we spent nine months in earlier in the year from the previous one.
"It's a little bit soul destroying really."
"It's terrible, it really is terrible, upsetting," said Mrs Cooper, "There's been so much work done on the place as well to get it how, your home. Then it just goes, in minutes."
"I feel like walking away, I really do, but it's our home."
The couple had only just moved back in on 8 September having spent their 50th anniversary and Michael's 70th birthday in temporary accommodation.
Mr Cooper says it's taken a toll on his mental health and the stress of it landed him in hospital for a month.
He said: "It's really depressing, really is completely depressing. You just stand there and look at the house and think, this was all lovely, and all we done, great to move into and boom, back to square one again."
Southern Water has sent in tankers to drain away the sewage-contaminated water, which Mr Cooper says have been working 24 hours a day for 13 days.
The Isle of Wight has been hit by severe flooding in the past two weeks, with affected Brading residents saying their properties are not being properly protected.
They claim the local council needs to improve drainage and the Environment Agency should be quicker to open nearby sluice gates, while a decision by the RSPB to leave nearby marshes flooded all winter also contributes to the problem.
In a statement, the Environment Agency said: "The Isle of Wight experienced its heaviest rainfall in decades in recent weeks, due to climate change. Parts of the island received more than four times the monthly average totals during the recent storms.""Our tidal gate at Brading is designed to maintain a set level in the marshes and prevent tidal flooding, and we will always review how our flood defences and flood gates operate."
An Isle of Wight Council spokesperson said: “The Council will be conducting a flood investigation into floods across the Island and these will be presented to committees when they have been completed.”
In a statement, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said: "An extreme rainfall event experienced two weeks ago has caused high water levels across the Isle of Wight floodplains.
"Historically, similar extreme rainfall events fill the river catchment floodplains when they occur and the properties in this area have been experiencing flooding due to the River Yar floodplain since at least Autumn 2000.
"As extreme weather events becoming increasingly common, long-term planning solutions to restore natural flood defences and reduce impacts on homes are urgently needed."
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