Frustrated Brummies blame council for failing to clean the drains ahead of downpours that submerged city

BirminghamWorld reported on the devastation caused by torrential rain across the city at the end of last month.

While the wet weather has continued, the peak of the damage hit areas such as Northfield, Hall Green and Stirchley with roads closed, schools shut and cars submerged in flood water.

Victoria School in Northfield was shut two days after flood water wrecked classrooms and damaged equipment.

Elsewhere, eight-year-old Freddie was hailed the ‘hero of Weoley Castle’ for his efforts to single-handedly clean out a blocked drain on his road.

Read more about that here: Meet amazing Freddie, aged 8, who jumped into action to protect Birmingham community from rising floods

However, many BirminghamWorld readers questioned why regular drain cleaning hadn’t been carried out across the city to avoid the level of flood devastation.

Readers like Yvonne Stevenson said: “Shame on the council for not getting the trucks out more often that do the job young Freddie did!”

Another said: “Should be down to the local council to sort the drains out not down to the local community that's what they pay the council taxes.”

When contacted by BirminghamWorld, a spokeswoman for Birmingham City Council urged residents to report any drain cleaning requests.

She said: “Birmingham City Council operates a risk-based, reactive gully cleansing regime throughout Birmingham.

“However, due to the significant rainfall over the past month, the drainage systems are currently struggling to handle the increased volume of water.

“We would advise anyone to report any gully cleansing requests.”

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