Flooded cars in Burnside means men have to wade to safety

Nov 21 2012 by Will Henshaw, Rutherglen Reformer

Flooding in Burnside this week meant two men had to wade to safety from their submerged cars.

On Monday, November 19, Fishescoates Avenue was hit with heavy rain causing flooding on the street, just underneath the Railway bridge. The water was so deep it reached several feet.

Both the fire service and South Lanarkshire Council were called to the incident.

Richard Derosa, who works at Burns Motor Engineering Co, located on Fishescoates Avenue, had to tow two cars to safety that had became trapped in the water.

In fact, Richard witnessed one man who attempted to drive through the water when it was several feet deep. His car gave way and he had to wade to safety. He also had to tow Jim Thompson’s car who had attempted to get through the water earlier when it was more shallow.

Richard said: “One guy thought his car would make it through, but his car started floating! He had to get out his window. It got really bad.

“We called the fire brigade they came here and said they couldn’t do anything about it as their pumps aren’t big enough, which I think is a disgrace.

“It’s down to the drainage, it’s terrible on this street. It’s not compatible with the amount of water that comes off the railway embankment and the hill. The drains are two narrow and two small, they need to do something about that.”

Jim Thompson (54), from Halfway, was on his way to work in Shawlands when he attempted to get through the water.

As a result, his car stopped working and Jim had to wade through the water and call his wife to take him to work

He said: “I was on my way to work this morning at about 20 past five, I thought I would maybe get through. I tried to get through it but my car conked out.

“My wife phoned me later on and told me it was up at the car’s wing mirrors. When I tried to go through it was just under the wheel arches. It ended up I had to get out and just leave it.

“The guy at the garage towed it out and told me it would probably be a complete write-off.”

A spokesperson for Strathclyde Fire and Rescue said: “When the initial call was made there was some flooding in the garage itself, however, when crews arrived the flooding had receded out of the building but had trapped two cars.

“Crews checked that the scene was safe and there was no further threat to life or safety and having been informed that local authority roads staff were on route to drain the water their vehicles (in line with normal procedures), there wasn’t much more we could do to help so crews left the scene to attend another incident.

“There were a number of flooding incidents yesterday morning following the rain, so our crews were hard at work right across the Strathclyde area.”

A spokesperson for South Lanarkshire Council said: “We were made aware of flooding on Fishescoates Avenue earlier that morning.

“Two members of staff were sent to inspect the location at 8.30am, a gully cleaning machine was then despatched at around 9.15am.

“After the water was cleared, a mechanical sweeper commenced cleaning the road surface and this was completed at around 12.30pm.”