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98
Report of the Medical OJficcr of Health.
for the families in upstairs rooms occupied by other tenants and
the beds loaned to them were used in these upper rooms.
On Monday, the 9th January, I instructed the Sanitary
Inspectors to visit all the affected streets in the area to ascertain
the extent of the flooding and to find out what relief could
be given to the families who sleep in basement or ground floor
rooms which had been flooded.
The flooding was of the most serious character, but fortunately
there are few basement houses in the area affected. It
was found that many families who had rooms on more than one
floor were able to make arrangements to sleep in upper rooms.
A great deal of damage was done to ground floor rooms and
their contents, and as many of these were occupied as bedrooms
the occupiers had to seek accommodation elsewhere. The water
saturated many rooms and damaged the articles of bedding arid
furniture, but in only a few cases was muddy deposit left behind
in any quantity.
All of the Sanitary Inspectors were on duty in the flooded
area almost continuously for several days.
The streets affected are mainly in the Fairfield and Southfield
Wards, and the worst flooding occurred in an area extending
from Bridgend Road on the east, to Wandsworth Park
on the west. About 300 premises were flooded.
The following list shows the streets affected, with the
maximum height reached by the water in each street:—
Maximum height
of flood.
Ships Cottages 3 ft.
Pier Terrace 4 ft.
Jews Row, Nos. 28-60 2 ft.
The Causeway. 3 ft. 6 in.
Fairfield Street 3 ft. 6 in.
Bell Lane 4 ft.
Wandsworth Plain 4 ft. 6 in.
Armoury Yard 3 ft.