A family has been left devastated after returning from a holiday to discover their home had been destroyed by flooding – leaving £158,000 of damage.
Liliana De Klerk, 41, had spent three weeks in South Africa visiting family with her husband Jean, also 41, and their two children Charlize, four, and Killian, seven.
When they arrived back at their five-bedroom home in Blackburn, West Lothian, they found every room completely wrecked after a frozen pipe in the attic had burst.
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Liliana says there was no indication that anything was wrong before the family left on their trip earlier in the year.
“We were so excited to come home after this holiday, we were planning on ordering a Chinese, putting a movie on and chill,” Liliana, who is a senior recruiter for a pharmaceutical company, told Need To Know.
“When we opened the door, I literally dropped everything I was carrying.
“It was like a waterfall, the flooring was all destroyed, the ceiling was on the floor.
“I screamed, ‘Why us, why us?’ and started crying.
“We had no warning at all.
“We are very proud of our house and maintain everything on a yearly basis.
“It was a freak accident, no one could have guessed a pipe would burst.”
The damage to the home was severe and a building surveyor has told Liliana that all flooring and walls will need to be ripped out, leaving only the beams of the house.
The family has been told the cost of the repairs, which will be covered by insurance, will be £158,000.
Repairs could take so long to complete that the family may not be home for up to a year, and they are still waiting for their contents insurance claim to be approved.
Liliana added: “I was devastated.
“I literally lost everything, everything I have is in that house.
“We had redone the living room, bathroom and the kitchen, so we were finally getting the house of our dreams, slowly but surely.
“I mourn the memories – I lost pictures, my kids’ baby items, first drawings.
“We have lost everything from clothes to furniture to toys.
“It’s all gone.
“They need to strip the house completely to the beams, let it dry and rebuild the whole inside of the house.
“I am devastated my entire house washed away.
“£158,000 is a lot of money. We would never be able to pay for our house to be restored to its original state.
“It feels like a mountain that is impossible to climb.
“My heart is broken.”
The devastating incident came after four-year-old Charlize was injured while on holiday.
Liliana said: “My daughter fell down the stairs and broke her femur on two days into our holiday.
“I was very scared, I’d never heard her scream like that.
“We were not home, so we didn’t know how the hospitals would be in South Africa.
“She had to have an operation and a plate and screws put in her leg.
“She can’t walk for six weeks and will need another operation in six months to remove the plate.”
Now, Charlize is also reeling from the news that her bedroom, favourite toys and all her belongings were destroyed due to the flooding.
Liliana added: “The whole time on the plane, she said she couldn’t wait to go in her bed and cuddle all her teddies to make her leg feel better.
“Her room was above the water tank – she lost everything.
“My son is devastated too; he is very quiet, he likes to chill in his room and have some time for himself.”
The family are now crammed into a one-bedroom hotel room in Bathgate, waiting for their insurance claim to be approved.
With no relatives in the UK, Liliana said the experience has been “very hard” on them.
However, friends have pitched in to help, sending donations and anything else they can ever since they returned home on January 20.
“My friends have stepped up,” Liliana added.
“When we arrived, my best friend came and took the kids straight away to her place so they wouldn’t see the house.
“All my friends have stepped in – donations for the kids, washing some clothes for us. The whole community has stepped up.
“People’s generosity has been incredible.”
To help replace essentials as the family faces months of upheaval, a GoFundMe has been launched. To donate, visit their page here.
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