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such diseases as typhoid, paratyphoid, gastro-enteritis, dysentery,
poliomyelitis and food poisoning.
In order to ascertain the extent of the flooding, public
health inspectors and assistants were instructed to make an initial
survey of the known flood areas and to telephone the department as
soon as practicable as to the position, Prom these preliminary
reports it was clear that the flooding had been both widespread and
severe, affecting hundreds of basements in the borough. Areas
affected included the western end of the Holland Ward, large areas
of the Norland Ward, a small area in the south-western part of
St. Charles Ward, parts of the Pembridge Ward, parts of Queen's
Gate and the eastern half of the Redcliffe Wardu The worst cases
appeared to be in the Norland and Pembridge Wards of the borough,
particularly in Arundel Gardens, Elgin Crescent, Talbot Grove,
Lancaster Road and Blechynden Street.
The Public Wash-houses and Disinfecting Station were made
available for the hosing and drying of affected material and
Council's transport and personnel were used for collecting damaged
bedding, carpets, clothing, etc. Pour vehicles, together with their
teams, were placed at the disposal of the public health department,
and an inspector was allocated to each vehicle. A record was made
of all articles collected and each article was labelled with the
name and address of the owner. In addition disinfecting fluid was
obtained for distribution free of charge to residents.
The work of helping the people affected by the flooding
extended until the following day, by the end of which all known
cases of flooding damage had been dealt with. At the height of
the flooding a number of "homeless" people assembled at Ladbroke
Road Police Station and immediate assistance was given by the
Women's Voluntary Services and the Council's Civil Defence Service.
The London County Council provided accommodation for the night in
the Newington Lodge Hostel to which people were transported by
coach. The Vicar of St. Mark's Church also offered accommodation
in the Church Hall, and two people made use of this offer.
Officers of the Council (including Civil Defence personnel),
representatives of the police, the London County Council, the
National Assistance Board and the Women's Voluntary Services were
in constant consultation during and after the incident on the
execution of remedial measures.
On the afternoon of Thursday, 1st September, a further
heavy rain storm occurred, 1.51 inches of rain being recorded at
Kensington Palace for the period 1st - 2nd September. On this
occasion, however, the rainfall was continuous over most of the 24hour
period and not so concentrated into such a short time as in the
previous incident. Although fairly widespread flooding of basements
did occur, much less damage was caused. The levels of sewage
flooding were substantially lower, being commonly 2/3 inches with
occasionally levels of 2'6". Broadly speaking, it was limited to
areas, passages, cellars and entrances,rather than the living rooms
so much affected on the earlier occasion. Fewer calls for
assistance were received (the Pire Stations concerned dealt with
147 calls as compared with 178 for the London County Council area),
no family was rendered homeless, and a much smaller quantity of
bedding and floor coverings had to be collected and dried. It was
not necessary to close the Public Wash-houses on this occasion,
and most of the drying was carried out at the Wood Lane Disinfecting
Station. Only one refuse vehicle had to be brought into service
for collecting.
Following this flooding, consultations took place between
the Council and the London County Council to consider what steps
might be taken to prevent further damage by storm flooding. The