Hackney Wick: Homes and businesses ruined by floodwater

London Centre for Book Arts was flooded causing damage to books and shelves

Homes and business premises have been damaged after a canal in east London burst its banks due to heavy rain from Storm Henk.

Ten fire engines and around 70 firefighters responded to flooding over a 10-acre area in Hackney Wick, east London at about 22:00 GMT on Thursday.

The worst affected area was Dace Road and Wick Lane, the London Fire Brigade (LFB) said.

At its peak the water reached up to 50cm deep, the brigade added.

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Crews were on the scene until around 04:30 and LFB officers led to safety around 50 people, some of whom stayed in a nearby art gallery.

A further 100 people were affected by the incident, a senior firefighter said.

A Met Office yellow weather warning for rain was in place until 03:00 on Friday.

Some parts of Hackney Wick were waist-deep in floodwater on Thursday night

Resident Rosie Lawrence, 26, has two cats and a dog and waded across Dace Road to rescue them as water poured into her ground floor flat "like a river".

She added that she would have to replace "everything" on the ground floor.

The mental health charity worker also said she thought her fridge, oven, dishwasher, washing machine, sofas, rugs and any other items on the ground floor were damaged beyond repair.

She said she walked through the cordon put up by emergency services, adding: "I was across the road and flatmates and my pets were in there (the flat). They had taped it off but I came through to get to them and I was wading through water up to short-person waist height.

"Then it all just happened really quickly. It started to go into all the units and it was filling in. It was like a river down the corridor."

Ms Lawrence added her friend was able to kayak across the carpark by the flats in the dark, wearing a long-sleeved shirt and shorts, because the water was so deep.

Rosie Lawrence's friend kayaked down a flooded street during the floods

Simon Goode, 40, from Leyton runs a bookshop and bookbinding studio, London Centre for Book Arts.

He was alerted to the water by a friend on Thursday evening.

He said original artwork and thousands of pounds worth of books were damaged by the flood.

Simon Goode said a lot of damage to books, shelves and materials from the floodwater

Speaking from the shop, where many of the books were wet and warped, he said: "We couldn't access the road because the floodwater was so deep.

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"The water was gushing in from the end of the road where the locks are a couple of feet deep.

"We came this morning and we have been scooping buckets and buckets of water."

People at the London Centre for Book Arts scoop out the water on Friday morning

"We teach classes. We've got really rare and expensive equipment.

"It's going to be thousands and thousands of pounds. If you think a shelf of books is £300 or £400, it's not really ideal.

He added that their studio was their livelihood.

Another resident living nearby, Paige-Marie Baker-Carroll, said she was frightened by how quickly the waters were rising.

"I went to get my car out, and when I got back, the water had risen up to my waist and I was quite scared about the electrics.

"But, the community effort has been really amazing. People were up until about 4am trying to get the water out."

Resident Paige-Marie Baker-Carroll managed to save her car from the floodwater

Photographer Dai Sasaki has had a studio in Dace Road for 11 years and lives above it.

Water marks several inches high have stained the walls and plants and litter have been spread throughout the building, which he said has never flooded before.

The 47-year-old said: "Water was coming through the door at I think 12 o'clock (at night).

"You'll have to redo the flooring and there was some damage to the walls. Mainly it's a lot of damage to the electricity but I need to ask the electrician. We are very worried about the electricity.

"After 3am automatically it (the flood) was gone."

Speaking from the scene, LFB Group Commander Stewart Gordon said: "Being out of the street in those kinds of conditions is very difficult. You can't see what's underneath it.

"We had significant rainfall in the area and obviously that led to the water levels across London rising, and the canal being where it is there, that meant that there was a significant amount of water that came up and over the canal and into the local area.

"Most of the properties we found were safe and secure and we don't believe there will be any additional weak spots caused by this flooding.

"As far as we're concerned there was no significant damage, no structural damage, that we needed to worry about."

Most of the water has now subsided but the fire brigade added that mould and damp could be an ongoing issue.

The flooded kitchen at Mr Goode's bookshop

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