Mum who lost £30,000 worth of possessions in last year’s floods fears Storm Eunice approach

By Jacob Phillips, Local Democracy Reporter

A Central London mum of three who lost everything in last year’s floods is terrified her home could be destroyed again in Storm Eunice.

Shahanara Miah, 39, her three children and young niece were forced to flee their Maida Vale basement flat after water flooded in through the toilet in July last year.

The family have just replaced £30,000 worth of possessions they lost and they are scared more damage could come when huge winds sweep through the city.

Ms Miah said: “I was awake all night. I was thinking, how am I going to get all these children upstairs.

“[Last night] the door was shaking. The wind was bellowing. Last time it blew my child away – he was blown into a bin.

“I have just had enough. I cannot go through this again.”

Winds with speeds up to 70mph are expected to hit London on Friday and it has been dubbed the most violent storm to hit England in the last 30 years.

Shahanara is planning to move valuable items such as phones and tablets to a place of safety in preparation for the storm hitting.

She will be keeping an extra eye out for her children, nine-year-old Ayaan, four-year-old Ishaq, two-year-old Fatema, and niece Nargish Miah, 11.

The family moved back to the property in November and were forced to borrow money from relatives to replace furniture and other household items.

But they are still traumatised after their home was left nearly underwater last summer. At the height of the floods in London, a month’s rain fell in three hours.

Water ran through Shahanara’s ceiling and leaked into electrical cables.

Around 230 properties in Westminster were flooded on July 12 following intense rainfall.

George Hodson, 72, was moved around six temporary hotels while he was recovering from cancer after his home was flooded on that fateful day.

Now George has just moved back into his home with his dogs but he is worried a similar situation could happen the next time there is a large storm.

He said: “I moved back in about a month ago. I was in a hotel for 14 weeks – it was awful.

“I am still quite traumatised. I lost every book I had from the mould. “I’m trying to build a new nest but I would have preferred my old nest.

“I’m really quite concerned we have nothing in place to prevent this from happening again.

“I have learned one thing in my life and that is not to be frightened as that will not help. If it floods we will have to deal with it again.”

The Met Office has put a rare red weather warning in the South West of England while London faces a yellow warning due to strong winds.

Pictured top: Left to right, Fatema, two, Nargish, 11, Ishaq, four, and Ayaan, nine (image: Shahanara Miah)