Yogendra Parmar, the chief officer support for Camden and Islington local pharmaceutical committee, confirmed to C+D yesterday (August 8) that “at least one” pharmacy – Hornsey Road Pharmacy – had been affected by the flooding.
Emergency services were called to the scene just after 7am yesterday, prompting multiple road closures, the London Fire Brigade said in a statement.
“A 36-inch water main burst, causing flooding up to a depth of around three feet and two sinkholes,” it said.
Ten fire engines and around 70 firefighters attended, and it is estimated that around 50 properties have been damaged.
Hornsey Road Pharmacy “informed NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE&I) and other stakeholders that they were unable to open” yesterday, Mr Parmar added.
Owner Kamal Shah told C+D today (August 9) that when he arrived at his pharmacy yesterday morning, the street was all flooded up and water started rising to about six or seven inches within the premises.
“We could not open the shop up until the afternoon, until the water [had] receded,” he told C+D.
While some stock was affected by the flooding and the pharmacy team is still carrying out deep cleaning of the premises, Hornsey Road Pharmacy is today back to business as usual to serve its community, Mr Shah said.
Thames Water is expected to send its assessors to evaluate the damage, Mr Shah added.
C+D has approached Thames Water for comment.
“No reports of any injuries”
London Fire Brigade station commander Matt Brown said: “Firefighters used flood barriers to divert water and assisted two adults and two children to safety.”
“There were no reports of any injuries,” he added. He said the area was affected by “severe congestion” and anticipated multiple road closures would be in place “for some time while our partners work to carry out repairs”.
He also urged people to avoid the area.
