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Heavy rain leaves Mount Pleasant Road in Tunbridge Wells flooded
15:11, 25 October 2020
updated: 15:38, 25 October 2020
Shops have been left counting the cost of this weekend's heavy rain, with one takeaway left dealing with its third flood in five years.
Mount Pleasant Road in Tunbridge Wells was under several inches of water last night, with clean-ups starting this morning.
The area near to Hoopers department store was the worst affected and this also included Kai's Kitchen.
John King, whose wife runs the Thai takeaway, said water began leaking through the walls and floor this morning and he was trying to put repairs in place.
He said: "Water has been getting in and we are trying to get plumbers in to work out where it is coming from.
"A lot of the problems are caused by the drains not being unblocked and the water just runs down the road. When I asked Kent County Council why the rubbish was not cleared, it said they couldn't reach the drains as they were in an alleyway."
Mr King said his business has had to fork out £400 a month on special mats for inside the eatery, which are designed to soak up water.
Previous floods happened in 2015 and 2017.
Mr King added: "Today isn't as bad as the 2017 one. Back then, the fire service had to force the door open and the fridges were found floating upside down. But it took us many months to get back to normal afterwards."
He praised police and other shop owners who were up until 10pm last night trying to clear the drains and get rid of the water.
Mr King said another issue is the lack of affordable insurance premiums for firms previously affected by flooding, with one quote coming in at £8,000.
He said: "The last time we went to renew, we suddenly found out this was a high-risk flood area. Our MP Greg Clark pledged to look at better insurance deals for those affected, but this only applied to domestic properties not businesses."
Today the Tunbridge Wells Flood Forum is asking people affected in the town to get in touch so information can be passed to KCC.
The county was battered by heavy rain and high winds last night.
This afternoon the Met Office warns blustery showers may become widespread, turning heavy and possibly thundery.
The maximum temperature is predicted to be 13°C.
