Original Queen guitarist, Brian May, is devastated after the entire bottom floor of his home flooded as a result of heavy downpours late Monday night and early Tuesday morning.
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May shared footage of the damage on his Instagram telling fans he came home to “horror” in his house after a “nice day at The Royal Holloway College.”
“The whole bottom floor had been inundated with a sewage overflow - which has covered our carpets, rugs and all kinds of precious (to us) things in a stinking sludge,” a frustrated May shared. “It’s disgusting, and actually quite heartbreaking. It feels like we were have been invaded, desecrated.”
May went on to share his beliefs that newly-built basements in the area are to blame for disrupting drainage and damaging his personal property.
“I’m angry,” he stated. “Historically, for 150 years, Kensington has never flooded due to rainwater. Why did this happen? It’s almost certainly the result of all the basement building that has been plaguing this area for the past 10 years.
He continued, “The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea council was warned years ago that sinking so many deep basement extensions would obstruct the aquifers underneath our living space and render the drainage system ineffective….This devastation is a direct result of the infamous RBKC allowing the ruination of our quality of life.”
“The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea council was warned years ago that sinking so many deep basement extensions would obstruct the aquifers underneath our living space and render the drainage system ineffective.”
The 73-year-old and wife, Anita, had secured a lot of their precious personal items on the first floor only months before to keep them safe from the threat of a forest fire. The couple is now frustrated by the loss of several items that weren’t usually stored in that area.
“Anita had a lifetime of memorabilia on the floor of our basement - and most of it is sodden and ruined,” he wrote. “I had rescued all my most treasured childhood photo albums and scrapbooks from my studio house because it was threatened with a forest fire some months ago. Where did I put it all for safety ? In the basement here in Kensington. Irony. Today it turned into a sodden mess. I’m devastated.”
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