More than 100 residents attended this week’s meeting on how to make homes more resilient to flooding

I MUST admit I hadn’t heard of “Flood Mary” before this week, and I doubt I’ll forget her any time soon.

Real name Mary Long-Dhonau OBE, she gave an impassioned presentation to a packed public meeting in South Hampstead about the importance of flood-resilience measures in London homes.

Known nationally for more than 20 years of campaigning for flood victims in rural areas after her own home was destroyed, Mary has now turned her focus to cities. After the devastating floods in Maida Vale and nearby areas in the recent past, her message to Westminster residents was clear: it can happen here too.

“I lost my memories,” she said. “My little children’s handprints, all their drawings from school. I was saving them for their 18th birthdays, and they all ended up in a skip. It still breaks my heart. Now I swear by plastic boxes.”

She added somberly: “The recovery from the flood is far worse than the flood itself.”

Shirland Road on July 12 2021 when extensive rainfall left parts of Maida Vale, Paddington and West Kilburn under water

Speaking to more than 100 people at the Likewise Centre, Flood Mary shared practical examples of how to make homes more resilient. “You can stick bricks underneath your furniture. Just make sure they’re in polythene bags,” she advised. “It’s simple things like that.”

Her number-one tip? “If you do one thing after tonight, go and buy some aluminium tape. I keep it in my handbag. It stops water getting into the bricks. You don’t need all the expensive stuff – one thing you can get is aluminium tape.”

Mary encouraged residents to create a clear “flood to-do list”. She explained: “Making a flood plan sounds boring, but it’s really important to know what you’ll do and in what order when it happens. Every home is different. I have a profoundly autistic son, so his needs come first. When you get a flood warning, your mind can turn to spaghetti; seriously consider writing it down.”

She also took aim at a long-standing British tradition: sandbags. “Let’s ban the sandbags,” she said bluntly. “They’re environmentally unfriendly and they don’t work. The sooner we move on from relying on them, the better.”

Mary said she had personally tested sandbags in a flood tank: “Four of them failed within a minute of turning the water on.”

Displays at the event showed examples of non-return valves, simple devices fitted to toilets and drains to stop flood water backing up into homes.

Mary Long-Dhonau

“If you get really stuffed,” Mary added, “just shove a deflated kids’ football down the loo and pump it up. That’ll stop the water coming through. And it’s worth saying it’s not just flood water that comes up through the loo… I’ve had that happen too. It’s not very nice.”

Her talk was accompanied by real-life stories from flood victims around the country, underlining the trauma and long recovery many experience.

The meeting also heard about government grants of up to £10,000 available for households hit by severe flooding to install future protection measures.

The discussion struck a particular chord locally. On July 12 2021, intense rainfall and thunderstorms caused flooding across Westminster – especially in Paddington, West Kilburn, and Maida Vale – leaving dozens of basements in Shirland Road and Kilburn Park Road waist-deep in water.

Although Thames Water invested £17million in 2015 on new defences for Maida Vale to manage flash flooding, experts say risks remain high.

Joan Munro, chair of the South Hampstead Flood Action Group, which organised the event, said: “Sadly, despite the extra drainage, we’re still warned that lower-ground properties remain vulnerable. Tonight is about what we can do about that.”

The evening also featured a presentation from Watertight International, a company based in Runcorn that supplies flood-defence equipment and sponsored the meeting.

For many Westminster residents, the takeaway from Flood Mary’s visit was simple: floods aren’t just a rural problem any more.

And preparation could mean the difference between recovery and ruin.