Sharon Rainford was left devastated after her holiday joy turned to dismay upon finding her car submerged in a flooded Manchester Airport car park. The 55 year old from Formby had just returned from a splendid 10-day break in Turkey with her husband Nick, only to be greeted by her “loved” Ford Focus sitting in “two feet” of rainwater on September 21.
The couple’s vehicle was parked in JetPark 3 Car Park, and the unexpected deluge has resulted in Sharon facing unforeseen costs. Recounting the ordeal, she said: “We got off the shuttle bus at the car park at around 1.30pm and started to walk to my car. First, we noticed a big truck with yellow lights on near to where we’d left the car. And, then we realised the car park was flooded.”
She continued, describing the scene: “There were cars sat there and they were trying to pump the water away. We couldn’t get to my vehicle, which was parked on the back row, it was under 2ft of water. The man operating the truck kindly lent my husband a pair of wellies and he waded through the water to my car. He managed to open the door to find water in every footwell of my car.
“It was sopping wet. You would have needed wellies to sit on the back seats.”, reports the Manchester Evening News. Photographs and footage of the motor reveal the Ford Focus engulfed by floodwater, with one image from the vehicle’s interior displaying waterlogged footwells.
Sharon claims car park personnel informed her there had been overnight “biblical rainfall” which triggered the inundation. Manchester Airport Group has issued an apology, describing it as a “freak storm”, according to the Liverpool Echo. Officials stated the location doesn’t usually experience flooding and that deliberations were taking place regarding next steps.
The Met Office had issued a warning for heavy rain expected to pummel Greater Manchester across a 21-hour period last weekend. The yellow-coded alert warned residents of possible ‘transport disruption and flooding’, with Saturday (September 20) predicted to deliver continuous downpours. The deluge compelled numerous eateries to close their establishments due to flooding.
Sharon alleges car park workers directed the pair to take a taxi home, guaranteeing the airport would foot the bill, and vowed to make contact once the water had receded so they could collect their vehicle. They were purportedly told to complete an online complaint form through the Manchester Airport website, which they accomplished whilst in a black cab returning to their Formby residence, costing £140.
Sharon continued: “We got home and I could settle. I couldn’t stop thinking about my poor car sitting there floating. I needed to do something. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love my car. It’s a Ford Focus ST and to most people it would be a piece of s*** but to me it’s my Rolls Royce.” Sharon reached out to her car insurer Aviva Zero, explaining that she was assured they would retrieve her vehicle that very evening and provided her with a time slot to rendezvous with the recovery driver at the car’s location.
They returned to Manchester Airport for the 9pm appointment in Nick’s motor, yet upon arrival, they found the water hadn’t receded. The recovery team informed Sharon they couldn’t tow her car until the floodwaters had subsided. Sharon recounted: “My husband was wearing his fishing waders and I had my wellies on so we managed to wade to my car. We didn’t attempt to start the engine because we didn’t know if it would cause any damage.
“We turned the ignition on and the lights came on, the window wipers worked so electrically it was fine. We managed to push it to dry land and called the insurance company to get the recovery people to come back and recover the car. Eventually they came and we left without my vehicle.”
Sharon alleges she’s still awaiting a decision from her insurance on the fate of her car and is dissatisfied with Manchester Airport’s handling of the situation. She claims to have received neither an apology nor compensation for the expenses incurred since her car was submerged.
She expressed her frustration, saying: “I paid them £89 to look after my car. It’s not like I just popped to Tesco, they had it for ten days. I’m now left with no vehicle, no courtesy car and I’m just left in limbo.”
She continued, dismayed by the situation: “Not only am I losing money on my car but I’m having to get family members to take me to work and back every day because I have no other way of getting there, which means they’re paying out money too. I’ve not even had a sorry.”
In response to the incident, a spokesperson for Manchester Airport explained: “Over the weekend extremely heavy rainfall caused widespread flooding across Manchester and the surrounding areas and it affected part of one of our car parks. We used specialist pumping equipment to clear the water as quickly as possible but a number of cars were affected.”
The airport representative added: “Staff have been positioned in the area to speak to passengers returning to their cars and advise them of the next steps to take. We apologise for any inconvenience.”
