Queen guitarist Brian May has shared his anger after a number of his “precious” belongings were ruined when his home was flooded.
May’s property was caught up in the flash flooding that hit the capital on Monday night and Tuesday morning after intense downpours.
The 73-year-old said that he came home from a day at Royal Holloway College to “horror in our house” in Kensington, west London.
In a post on Instagram, he added: “The whole bottom floor had been inundated with a sewage overflow – which has covered our carpets, rugs and all kinds of precious (to us) things in a stinking sludge.
“It’s disgusting, and actually quite heartbreaking. It feels like we were have been invaded, desecrated.”
He added that his wife, Anita Dobson, had “a lifetime of memorabilia on the floor of our basement – and most of it is sodden and ruined”, and he had only recently moved some “treasured” childhood photos to his basement, which have been “turned into a sodden mess”.
“I’m devastated – this stuff is only ‘things’ – but it feels like Back To The Future when the photograph fades – feels like a lot of my past has been wiped out.”
He also shared a number of videos on the social media platform of his flooded house – with waterlogged floors and drenched belongings.
The guitarist blamed the “infamous” Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea council for the flooding in another post, adding that they are “responsible for all the misery that is going on in my neighbourhood tonight”.
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He also blamed “selfish” borough residents for constructing basements under their properties, which he says disrupts drainage – a claim disputed by the council.
A council spokesman said: “Our priority is to make sure residents who have been affected by last night’s flooding have the help they need.
“Overnight we have placed 120 residents in emergency hotel accommodation and are making emergency repairs this morning.”
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Cars and streets submerged as flooding hits London
He also said that the council was making welfare calls to “vulnerable” residents, adding that support centres have been set up in the area.
“Flash floods have affected boroughs across London after sudden and torrential rainfall,” the spokesman said.
“This is causing damage and disruption across the city, not just here in Kensington and Chelsea, and is not linked to basement building.”
https://news.sky.com/story/queen-guitarist-brian-may-shares-footage-of-devastation-after-west-london-home-is-flooded-12354878
