Young couple spend £10,000 renovating home which floods a week before moving in
A young couple from Swansea Valley spent a year and £10,000 renovating their first home which was flooded a week before they had the chance to move in.
Flooding has been a major issue for 24-year old Lauren Jones and 25-year-old Cameron Harkness who bought their early 1900s semi-detached property in 2019.
In August 2020, a week before moving into their newly renovated home, a flood hit damaging furniture, new flooring and carpets on the ground floor.
They experienced another flood before Christmas, and then again on January 20 during Storm Christoph when sewer water rose quickly outside their home. The fire brigade were called to the scene to stop sewer water from entering their property.
On Saturday, the couple were faced with the same situation as they woke up to water rising outside their home.
They couple said they "live in fear" bad weather is forecast.
"What would have been a really enjoyable experience for us - I think that's something every young couple looks forward to - has been so stressful," Miss Jones said.
"We've had enough bad luck. Cameron's grandmother passed away and our wedding has had to be postponed three times. I am on furlough but I'm going to be made redundant, and Cam has had to take time off work to deal with the problems going on here.
"We woke up and Cam said it had been raining heavily overnight and that it looked quite bad on the roads. We look all the time anyway. It makes us really anxious."Mr Harkness, 25, said, "For a lack of a better term, it has been the worst thing that has happened to me in my entire life.
"It has been incredibly stressful and it has had an effect on our mental health. I work in a stressful environment anyway, and then coming home to this and the issues we have here is like a second job."
Miss Jones added, "I would just want Welsh Water to act like this is an emergency. Imagine if they were in our shoes. Please find a way to stop the flooding in our home."A Welsh Water spokeswoman said: "We received reports of the manhole cover overflowing outside the property during the heavy rain over the weekend and sent a team to investigate.
"Further investigations are required to understand the cause which we will undertake. We understand the distress that can be caused from a manhole overflowing in this way and will ensure we keep the customer informed."