Like many places across the South of England, Northwood, Ruislip and the wider Hillingdon borough were hit hard by flooding caused by unusually heavy rainfall.
Roads were closed, public transport delayed, and floodwater entered residents’ properties. Hillingdon Council stated that a month’s worth of rain fell in a single day on Monday, September 23.
Ruislip was the area worst affected by the flooding, with Queensmead Secondary School, Ruislip High School and Bourne Primary School all forced to temporarily close.
Both Queensmead and Ruislip High opened within two days. However, due to floodwater entering the school’s main building, classes only restarted at Bourne Primary a week later.
In other areas, Hillingdon Council reported that its flood alleviation schemes, including the one in Ruislip’s Bessingby Park, were all effective at keeping rising water away from nearby properties.
New measures introduced in Brook Drive in Ruislip also proved effective at minimising flooding in an area where a high number of homes have previously been at risk.
Councillor Eddie Lavery, Hillingdon Council’s cabinet member for residents’ services, said: “We’re very proud of how quickly and effectively the council’s teams dealt with a broad range of issues, under very challenging circumstances.
“The frequency of such weather events is expected to increase with changing climates, which is why we’ve been taking steps to try and minimise risk to households in the borough.
“We will now thoroughly investigate where these floods caused serious issues and investigate why it occurred. We’ll also review our processes to see what we’ve done well and learn where we can improve things.”
Photo credit: Hillingdon Council
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