![\"Lindsey](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_Bulwer-Street-flooding.jpg\")
Lindsey Smith, 44, outside her home on Bulwer Street in Bootle(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\nOne year on from the floods which forced Bootle residents out of the homes, the Liverpool ECHO visited the street to speak to the people affected and examine the impact on the communityLindsey Smith, 44, outside her home on Bulwer Street in Bootle(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was like living in Beirut!\u201d says Linda Crilly, 70, as she tries to describe the aftermath of the Bulwer Street flood last year. Like so many other residents, Linda\u2019s home was flooded with dirty water<\/a> after a prolonged period of heavy rain and a \u2018software fault\u2019 in a United Utilities sewer system.<\/p>\n Emergency services were called to Bulwer Street in Bootle<\/a> on September 30 last year after water started gushing into people\u2019s homes, with many requiring rescue boats to get out safely.<\/p>\n It was the second major flooding incident<\/a> reported on this road in the last 14 years and left dozens of residents effectively homeless<\/a>. Their living spaces became submerged in dirty water, ruining household items such as TVs and sofas as well as personal mementos and family heirlooms.<\/p>\n Linda was at a celebration in Southport<\/a> when she got a phone call off her husband to say water was coming in through the back of the house again. Linda said \u2018again\u2019 because she and her husband were also residents of Bulwer Street when it was flooded back in 2013.<\/p>\n Because of that experience, Linda decided they were going to stay in the house during the clean-up process, having moved out into temporary accommodation the last time. But when she considers everything they went through, she is still conflicted about whether it was the right thing to do.<\/p>\n Linda describes the immediate aftermath of last year\u2019s flood: \u201cIt was like living in Beirut! That was the way I described it at the time. It looked like it was.<\/p>\n \u201cMy husband and myself had already made the decision that we weren\u2019t going to leave the house, because when I think, when you\u2019re not there, you can get forgotten about.<\/p>\n \u201cThey had to dig up the living room floor so we had to go missing for a full day while they dug this up, and then they laid a new floor, but they used tarmac. The whole house smelled like a road!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI still say United Utilities have not given us enough information. They just keep saying that it won\u2019t happen again. They\u2019re hoping it won\u2019t happen again, but they\u2019re not giving us any concrete evidence that they\u2019ve done anything at all.\u201d<\/p>\n Like many other residents, Linda hates it when it rains because of the potential for flooding, she said: \u201cI personally don\u2019t look out the window anymore, but my husband does, and he\u2019s like \u2018the street is starting to flood again\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve got to the stage now where I think, I\u2019m not King Canute, I can\u2019t hold it back. If the rain is going to come in, it\u2019s going to come in.\u201d<\/p>\n Flood events in Sefton<\/a> rose by more than 70% during the year before the Bulwer Street flood, while average rainfall in September 2024 increased by 150-200%, according to a report published by Sefton Council.<\/p>\n In terms of the cause of the flooding on Bulwers Street, Sefton Council\u2019s official report stated: \u201cWhilst the area is known to have significant risk of flooding from surface water, the main cause of the flooding during this event was due to a failure of the automated control system in the combined sewer, operated by United Utilities.\u201d<\/p>\n Joan Porter, 64, said she is a \u2018three time veteran\u2019 of the Bulwer Street floods. Joan remembers with dread the events of September 30<\/a>, 2024 and the subsequent seven months trying to restore her home.<\/p>\n When the rains started, Joan said she was on her way back from the Asda<\/a> and got a call from her husband who said the entire street was flooded, \u201cI pulled up to the street and all the shopping just got lashed because we went into survival mode.\u201d<\/p>\n That night, Joan said the seriousness of their situation \u2018hit them like a hammer\u2019 and they had to go and stay with their daughter. They had spoken to other residents who were experiencing flooding for the first time, many of whom optimistically assumed the clean-up would take a few days, but Joan knew differently.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cPeople were put up in apartments for months on end, and in areas they had no connection to and didn\u2019t want to be in. We went to our daughters and we were there for six months.\u201d<\/p>\n Joan showed us around her home which is fully refurbished and she has spent a lot of time and money trying to make it into a home again. However, it\u2019s still difficult for her to relax, knowing it could be taken away again, she said: \u201cWhen it\u2019s heavy rain, you\u2019re just constantly looking out the window, watching that grid, making sure it goes down.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re just you\u2019re living on your nerves and we\u2019re all living in fear.\u201d<\/p>\n Joan said she is not reassured by United Utilities explanations<\/a> for the flooding: \u201cWhatever they say, it\u2019s not \u2018if\u2019 it happens again, it\u2019s \u2018when\u2019 it happens again. They forget that I\u2019ve heard them say \u2018it wouldn\u2019t happen again\u2019 last time, and look what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n United Utilities conducted its own investigation and said a \u2018software issue\u2019 prevented the system from operating as expected. Its current position is that the issue has been resolved and confirmed it has implemented additional measures to ensure the \u2018long-term resilience of our system and minimise the risk of flooding\u2019.<\/p>\n A United Utilities spokesperson said: \u201cWe understand that flooding is a huge concern for residents in the area and remain committed to doing everything we can to ensure the long-term resilience of the sewer network.<\/p>\n \u201cSince last year\u2019s flooding, we have implemented several measures, including installing more sensors in our network, manually monitoring our system during periods of heavy rain, and investing \u00a311m to enhance the local sewer network to minimise the risk of flooding.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will continue to play our part in rebuilding the local community and providing support where needed.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Flooding](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_Flooding-in-Liverpool.jpg\")
Flooding on Bulwer Street in Seaforth, September 2024(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n![\"Linda](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760272094_620_0_Bulwer-Street-flooding.jpg\")
Linda and John Crilly at home on Bulwer Street in Bootle(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n![\"Joan](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760272095_683_0_Bulwer-Street-flooding.jpg\")
Joan Porter, 64, on Bulwer Street in Bootle(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n
![\"Emergency](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760272095_94_0_Flooding-in-Liverpool.jpg\")
Emergency services help residents during flooding on Bulwer Street in Seaforth, September 2024(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n