An elderly couple drowned – days before their 54th wedding anniversary – in flooding under a bridge because the sewers could not ‘cope’ with heavy rain, a shocking report has revealed.
Elaine Marco, 75, and her husband Philip, 77, lost their lives in August 2023, after their car was submerged in floodwater where the road dips under a bridge in Liverpool.
It has now been revealed that this was because the ‘sewer network in the area cannot cope with the volume of water that falls in a short period of time’, according to a Liverpool City Council report published today.
Emergency services were called to four other vehicles submerged in water in the same spot – Queens Drive in the Mossley Hill area of the city – in the three months before the Marcos’ deaths.
A manhole cover had blown on the day the couple died, the report found. ‘Due to the force of the water emanating from the public sewer this caused an almost tidal effect within the flood water,’ it said.
The independent investigation, commissioned with engineering firm Mott MacDonald, added that members of the public had noted a ‘plume of water’ gushing out of the open manhole, causing the water to rise ‘extremely quickly’.
The report recommended that water company United Utilities, along with the council and Network Rail (which operates the bridge), find permanent solutions to tackle flooding in the area.
After the fatal incident, the council shut the road for more than five months while it oversaw work to install early warning flooding sensors, CCTV, signage and road barriers.
Elaine Marco, 75, and her husband, Philip, 77, pictured, lost their lives in August 2023, after their car was submerged in floodwater where the road dips under a bridge in Liverpool
It has now been revealed that the couple’s car (pictured) got trapped because the ‘sewer network in the area cannot cope with the volume of water that falls in a short period of time’, according to a Liverpool City Council report published today
On half of the occasions that emergency services were called to submerged vehicles on Queens Drive in the months before the Marcos died, people had to be rescued from their vehicles.
All of the incidents happened when yellow or amber weather warnings for either heavy rain or thunderstorms were issued.
An investigation carried out by United Utilities found that ‘surcharging of the sewer network’ during heavy rainfall was the main cause of the flooding, according to the council report.
The highway drainage system also contributed to the flood, it found.
Witnesses described seeing ‘red lights under water’ and scenes ‘like a burst dam’ after the couple got caught in the flood.
The frequency of flooding incidents rose in 2023, the report noted, with the cause for that as yet unknown.
Rainfall saw the road shut again in July last year for nearly six weeks.
The family of the Marcos said in a statement that the ‘only comfort’ was that the long-married pair were together until the end.
The couple were pulled from where they were trapped in their black Mercedes by emergency services (pictured) after members of the public had tried to help them – but they were sadly pronounced dead in hospital
The couple were pulled from where they were trapped in their black Mercedes by emergency services after members of the public had tried to help them – but they were sadly pronounced dead in hospital.
Friends described them as a ‘kind and generous’ couple whose catering business was popular in the local Jewish community they were part of.
Paying tribute to the couple, one friend said: ‘Terrible tragedy with the passing of our dear friends, Philip & Elaine Marco. May Hashem heal the torn hearts of their children and grandchildren. A huge loss to our community.’
A United Utilities spokeswoman said: ‘Our thoughts and condolences are with the family and loved ones of Elaine and Philip Marco and we extend our deepest sympathies to them.
‘We participated fully in this report into the flooding at Queens Drive and will continue to work with all organisations that have an impact on surface and groundwater in this area so that we can improve drainage at this location and across the wider city region.’
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