Isle of Wight flooding leaves Ryde businesses counting the cost

Many of the shops and eateries along Monkton Street are only today emerging from the "chaos" which saw them forced to shut suddenly on Wednesday (25).

At Chipmunks Fish and Chip shop, which reopens for the first time since the floods this afternoon, the basement was swamped with knee-high water.

Not only has it cost owner Karen Dilk financially, with a loss of trade, but also on a personal level, as her late husband's belongings have been ruined.

Read more: Isle of Wight floods will be reviewed by Environment Agency

And it was a similar story across the road at the Happy Chef cafe and Wight's Wash 'n' Wag Dog Grooming, whose staff found themselves submerged in water. 

Speaking to the County Press, the businesses say this level of flooding would not have happened had there not been "failures" in the way the flood system at the nearby Simeon Rec was implemented.

It's claimed not all of the boards were put in place in time.

Karen said: "Somebody has got to be held responsible. This is a man-made error and they have to admit it really. Some people have lost everything."

Karen, like other businesses and residents, said she can't claim on her insurance because it excludes flood damage, while those that can claim have told the County Press they have been left with sky-high premiums.

Sonia McFarlane, landlady of the Solent Inn, said: "We shouldn't have to claim on our insurances because somebody didn't do their job properly."

She said the pub, which offered free hot drinks on the day, was lucky in the sense that as long as people had wellies, they could still go in. 

She said the community spirit has been "fantastic." 

Although reopen now, Simon Lyness, owner of cafe the Happy Chef, said his business had to close for a couple of days.

It took 80 hours to get the cafe up and running, he said, and the building is still damp now.

"The gates at the Rec were not shut", he said.

"The preventative measures weren't in place and people couldn't get to the sandbags."

Tash Gough, owner of the dog salon, has only just managed to reopen today.

"Staff have lost hours and we've lost revenue", she said.

"Everyone's furious because someone is to blame and something should be done. Someone needs to be held accountable."

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said it would review its response to see whether additional flood boards would have reduced the flooding at Monktonmead.

A statement said: "This will help us improve our response to flooding, and that of our partners, in the future."