Three burst water mains flood large parts of Campbelltown, Paradise
DRAMATIC pictures have emerged of houses and cars underwater in Adelaide after a series of burst water mains caused havoc.
National
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FRUSTRATED residents in the northeastern suburbs of Adelaide have been left with a hefty clean-up after a series of burst water mains left a muddy trail of destruction.
At least three burst in Campbelltown and Paradise between 2.20pm and 3pm on Monday, sending water cascading down kilometres of streets and into houses.
Up to a dozen houses were flooded and others left with waterlogged yards.
Houses on Willow Drive at Paradise suffered the worst of the damage when water from a nearby burst main pooled at the end of the cul-de-sac and inundated houses.
State Emergency Service volunteers and residents frantically used shovels, sandbags and brooms to protect their homes and belongings.
But there was little some could do to stop the torrent. About seven homes on Willow Drive were flooded, with water up to 30cm. Residents were expected to be without power last night and advised to find alternative accommodation.
Willow Drive resident, Elaine Pizimolas, was the first to raise the alarm about the burst main about 2.20pm and said she was “frustrated” about a lack of urgency in the response.
“I was driving and I was concerned about the water gushing down so I called SA Water and the woman said she would give me a job number,” she said.
“I said ‘no I want them to come out’ but from what I could tell nobody arrived to help and when I called again about 2.45pm and told them my son’s car was under water up to the window and finally got someone to understand it was a serious.”
Mrs Pizimolas said she understood SA Water must get a lot of calls about water damage but she wished they at least directed her to call the State Emergency Service if the situation worsened.
Other residents, including neighbour Linton Schiller, also said it took too long for SA water to respond to the burst.
“I called 000 because I did not know who to call. I called the council too but they told me it was not their job,” he said.
Mr Schiller’s son’s car was also submerged by the floods and significant parts of his house suffered damage.
Jane Lyons, whose house is at the end of Willow Dr, said about 30cm of water filled her house, destroying her carpets and floating floorboards.
She said the incident was unfortunate but had to be put into perspective.
“I’m a nurse so I have seen pretty horrible things,” she said.
“Your home is your castle but nobody got hurt.”
Staff from Allwater — which services mains pipes — were currently on site, trying to switch the water off.
A spokeswoman said the volume of water was making it difficult for staff to access the valves needed to switch it off.
“Our first priority is to shut the water off and we’re working on that,” she said.
She said once the water was switched off, crews could start to fix the pipes.
Pensioner Marie Barrlett, who was looking after her grandson when alerted to the flood by her neighbour, said she was concerned the water had damaged the structure of her house.
“It’s gone into the carport, the shed and submerged the backyard,” she said.
“It was very heavy. It was very bad.”
The rush of water brought with it mud which has been deposited throughout her property, although the interior of the house remains relatively clean.
“All of the water has gone into the foundations,” she said. “There is mud everywhere.”
She said she hoped SA Water would help compensate for damage to her possessions, which were not covered by her house insurance.
“I’m a pensioner — what can I do?” she said.
“It is very stressful, I have a headache now (because of the worry).”
Clairville Rd was blocked off for over an hour as SA Water worked to cut the water supply.
Silkes Rd resident, Ravinder Kaur, said she had two children at her daycare centre she runs from home when she noticed water gushing out her door.
“Straight away I knew it was not good, luckily I only had two children today, normally there is four,” she said.
Mrs Kaur said she grabbed her Pomeranian puppy, Muffin, and got the two children to safety.
“Luckily the inside is OK but I’m concerned about the structure of the house.”
@KennyMac1818 @theTiser I'm just around the corner from where this happened, and couldn't cross the road to get home!
— Katie Milanowicz (@katiemilanowicz) 7 March 2016
Water flow affecting kilometres of suburban streets @theTiser pic.twitter.com/d6BA2jstzx
— Ken McGregor (@KennyMac1818) March 7, 2016
Major flooding down Clairville Rd Campbelltown, due to water main burst @theTiser #newsADL pic.twitter.com/69VN2g8hsp
— Bianca De Marchi (@bianca_demarchi) March 7, 2016
Damage from burst water main at Campbeltown @theTiser pic.twitter.com/Irmn6x6nD0
— Ken McGregor (@KennyMac1818) March 7, 2016
Opposition Infrastructure spokesman David Pisoni said the State Government had failed to maintain main water pipes.
“With 4,000 bursts last year alone it is clear that the Weatherill Labor Government has failed to properly maintain and replace our ageing infrastructure,” he said.
“SA water needs to release its infrastructure maintenance program for the last five years and detail how it intends to combat the 23 per cent increase in burst pipes in a single year.”
A video sent to The Advertiser shows large amounts of water cascading through the backstreets of Campbelltown.
A burst water main last Friday on Greenhill Rd caused traffic havoc, adding to the pain of Clipsal 500 road closures.
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