London Poo: UK Streets Overflow With Brown Water

What's This?

By Brian Ries2014-02-27 23:00:39 UTC

Londoners, it seems, are having a real crappy evening.

A reported water main burst late Thursday night in a South London neighborhood, causing localized flooding and what one local journalist identified as “sewage” pouring through the streets.

Lewis Whyld, a "visual journalist" and self-described "innovations specialist" at the London Telegraph, tweeted a series of photographs of what Londoners were calling the #Londonpoo (others: #poonami). "Kennington in Central London going underwater (sewage?!) right now," he tweeted shortly before 8:30pm local time.

He quickly followed that tweet with photographs of the "sewage," which others on Twitter say was cascading into first-floor homes in the neighborhood. A local resident, 58-year-old Angela Reynolds, told ITV, “The road has been made into a river. It's a bit like Somerset. The water is revolting, brown, muddy—well I hope it's mud.” She added: “The water just flooded the road in 10 minutes. It was quite incredible."

In a message posted on its website, Thames Water attributed the water to a burst water main and said repairs were underway, and apologized for any inconveniences the flood of sewage may have caused. “If you are suffering from flooding inside your home,” the company says, “please call us and we will investigate.” Otherwise, “please do not call us until water levels have subsided.”

The Metropolitan Police in Lambeth tweeted that residents should stay indoors, and “Clapham Road outside Oval Tube Station closed in both directions due to burst water main and flooding.”

Topics: flooding, london, Pics, Twitter, US & World, World

Image: Flickr, Dominic Alves