Major incident declared as thousands without water

Key Highlights

• Is that too much to ask?"Krys O'Brien, who lives in East Grinstead, told BBC Radio Sussex: "It's been grim, it's been unsanitary and unhygenic.
• It's been a miserable weekend."We've had no water since very early Saturday morning.
• We've had very intermittent messages from South East Water on the web site.
• It's been horrible and we don't know when it's going to come back properly."Heather Pratt in Forest Row said her water returned on Monday morning after being cut off on Saturday."It has been pretty grim and to use Storm Guretti as an excuse I find very flimsy" she said. EDDIE MITCHELLVulnerable customers are having bottled water deliveredOn X, Kent County Council leader Linden Kemkaran said: "A major incident has now been declared on the basis that more households and settings have been impacted in the last 24 hours and because we are putting additional arrangements in place to prepare for further potential disruption."Several schools in Kent and Sussex are closed for the day because of the lack of water, along with the public libraries in East Grinstead. The Queen Victoria Hospital in the town said some appointments may have to be carried out virtually. Officials said water tankers were delivering supplies, and extra measures were being taken to ensure essential services continued. Members of hospital staff who are able to work from home are being urged to speak to their line manager. EDDIE MITCHELLLong queues formed at the bottled water stations over the weekendSpeaking to the BBC, Mike Martin, the Liberal Democrat MP for Tunbridge Wells, said: "We're in a bizarre situation where we've privatised water and they are accountable to no-one."I think the chair of South East Water needs to convene the board and get a grip of what's going on."In a statement on Monday morning the company said: "We are sorry that customers in East Grinstead and the surrounding areas have had no water or intermittent supply over the weekend."We're are working hard to restore supplies but regrettably, this situation has not improved as much as we would have liked and we anticipate that the reservoir is unlikely to return to a level where your supplies will return until tomorrow (Tuesday 13th)."Follow BBC Sussex on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram.
• Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc. co. uk or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250. More on this storyThousands of homes still without water in South EastWater supply issues affect 16,500 homes in SussexWater disruption affects thousands across South EastRelated internet linksSouth East WaterWater.