THE cyclone-fuelled drenching Perth received earlier this week exposed a long-standing flooding problem in South Fremantle’s Chester Street, says a homeowner.

Anne Roberts spent more than an hour trying to sweep away the water that was lapping at her front door on Tuesday night while SES volunteers, council staff and other neighbours furiously filled sandbags to stem the rising floodwaters. Two of her neighbours also had waters lapping at the edge of their porches.

“It was very traumatic last night,” Ms Roberts said on Wednesday as the SES team arrived to help clean up.

• Skeat Frankham (right) and his dad Barry take advantage of the water on Chester Street for a bit of fun. Photo by Dave D’Anger

“If it was not for you guys, it would have got through and flooded the whole house again.”

Ms Roberts has already lost her carpets three times and had to replace rotted skirting boards because the drain out the front of her house isn’t coping.

“By mid-afternoon I could tell there was nothing draining from there,” she says.

• SES vollies Naomi Anderson, Kim Guo and Allison Lamb get thanks from Anne Roberts for protecting her house from flooding. Photo
by Steve Grant

They were upgraded only last year by Fremantle council, but Ms Roberts says she warned the workers that unless a nearby sump was deepened to take more water, it was pointless. This week’s deluge proves her point, she says.

But the council’s community safety team got the thumbs-up from both Ms Roberts and the SES, after calling in reinforcements when it was clear they wouldn’t be able to stop the waters themselves.

by STEVE GRANT