MULBARTON – A resident of The Broads, Mulbarton is upset beyond words after a storm water drain outside his property burst on Monday night, February 16 during a storm. This is the second time in a year this has happened.
“I was watching TV at about 23:20 when all the lights went out. I thought at first it was load shedding but when I looked outside I saw all the street lights were on. It was raining hard but only then when I looked towards the driveway I saw one of my cars had water up to the bonnet.
“When I went outside and saw the mess I went into my garage where my other car was and to my horror I noticed the water was halfway up the wall and my Limited Edition 86 Toyota had water half way up the sides!” said the resident.
According to him he moved into the house in September 2013 and last year on February 27 the garage and house were completely flooded after the storm drain outside on the pavement burst.
“There was over R50 000 damage and all the carpets, furniture and cupboards had to be replaced,” he said.
The homeowner has reported the problem to Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) numerous times and the latest reference number he received was 8002131593. “I was told to contact the Southdale Depot, which I did, but no-one ever came out to address the problem. In the end in desperation I put the top back on the storm drain myself and cemented it closed,” he said.
Neither of the resident’s cars will start after the flood and he’s waiting for the insurance assessor to come out and see the damaged vehicles and property.
“Thankfully after last time, I made a hole in the back garage door where water could escape if flooding happened again, so this helped a little and I also raised the tiles into the lounge so any excess water couldn’t come through again. It helped but not sufficiently and the one lounge was flooded along with the bottom shelf of the bookcase.
“I am so angry about this. My Limited Edition Toyota 86 was my birthday gift to myself last October. There are not many in South Africa and now it’s ruined.
“Someone has to be held accountable for this damage to my vehicles and my home,” concluded the upset resident.
*Johannesburg Road Agency has been contacted for comment.
