Irene Harris and her husband Malcolm were among those assessing the damage this morning, after several feet of water cascaded through their homes in the middle of last night.
Mr Harris, 70, came downstairs to investigate the sound of running water, at around 5.30am, only to find the whole of the ground floor of his home under water.
He said: “I thought we may have left the tap on, but to my horror I saw what had really happened.”
Mrs Harris showed the Harrow Times the devastating damage this morning, as they picked through their ruined possessions.
She said: “We only moved in at the end of May, we were just getting the house sorted and had new carpets down and then this has happened.
“The grandchildren's toys are ruined, there are boxes that we haven't even unpacked and who knows what damage has been done to them.”
A thick layer of mud remains across the floors of the homes affected by the flooding – caused by a ruptured 12-inch pipe in Elms Road.
The flow of water gushing from the burst pipe was so powerful it went through the Elms Road houses, across the back gardens, and into the homes in Winston Close and Richmond Gardens where the Harrises live.
Mukesh Malam, of Elms Road, was woken in the middle of the night by the flooding, and found himself standing knee-deep in water when he went to investigate.
He said: “The water was gushing through the letterbox. I couldn't stop it and was scared to open the door because there was so much water.
“It was frightening and we didn't know what to do.”
Edward Davis, who has lived in Winston Close for the last 11 years, saw the torrent of water as he got up to get his morning newspaper at 5.30am.
He said: “The water was building up and building up, it really was like a river. It was unbelievable what I was seeing.”
Veolia Water, the firm responsible for the offending burst pipe, have apologised for the damage and had workers on site today trying to clean up and fix the problem.
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