Two fire engines along with crews from Wembley and Park Royal fire stations have rescued a woman who was trapped in her car while attempting to drive over a flooded main road in North Acton.
The woman was trapped underneath the bridge in Victoria Road for 4 hours while other motorists also attempted to drive through the high flooding on the road added to the problem. It wasn’t until the fire service arrived that the road was taped off to stop others from attempting to cross.
The rescue of the woman comes 72 hours since Victoria Road experienced flooding which saw torrential rain making it inaccessible to vehicles including cars, buses and emergency services who had to turn around.
Despite warning signs, at least five vehicles since Sunday night (23 October 2022) have had to be rescued and today’s incident was the first involving the fire service.
From Friday night (21 October 2022), the road under the bridge, has seen heavy rain flood the area and has seen delays in local bus 266 as Transport for London finds alternatives ways for its drivers to avoid the area.
London Ambulances have also been impacted by the flooding.
Residents say this is not unusual.
One local told EALING.NEWS: “This has been going on for as long as I’ve lived here which is over 25 years. We were only told a few years ago that the problem has been fixed but it still happens several times a year.”
Liberal Democrat Councillor Gary Malcolm, Leader of the Opposition, Ealing Council told EALING.NEWS: “Many drains are blocked and so this tends to be the cause of some flooding when rain pours down heavily. I would expect the Council to inspect all the drains in the area to insure that this is not the case and stop any reoccurrence.”
Ealing Conservative leader Councillor Julian Gallant told EALING.NEWS: “It’s not unusual to see torrential downpours in late October. Residents are asking why Ealing’s Labour-run council is always caught napping when it comes to keeping those drains and gullies clear of the leaf mulch and other detritus which causes them to flood.”
Residents say they want Ealing council to “fix it”
One resident said: “We want Ealing Council to fix this issue once and for all. It’s dangerous for all road users and should have been fixed years ago.”
Another resident told EALING.NEWS: “This was going to happen. It always happens. Ealing Council needs to do something.”
Thames Water confirmed to EALING.NEWS that it is Ealing Council’s responsibility to fix it.
In a tweet message to EALING.NEWS, the water company said: “Our engineers have investigated this and this is rain water gathering in the dip of the road. Our assets are working as expected, and the road is the council’s asset”.
Without any help from the authorities, drivers took it on themselves to help each other. On Sunday night (23 October 2022), a Tesco delivery driver helped a motorist stranded in the flooded road by helping to move their car.
EALING.NEWS informed Ealing Council of the flooding on Sunday (23 October 2022) following residents in the area being concerned that no action had so far been taken to clear up the flooding on the road.
EALING.NEWS has approached Ealing Council for a comment.
