Charlotte Benton,West Midlands and
Kate Justice,in Ewyas Harold
BBC
Ewyas Harold Fire Station said flood water reached a “record high” on Friday
Public transport was disrupted and drivers struggled to pass through surface water as Storm Claudia hit the West Midlands.
Roads flooded with vehicles passing through deep water in places following Friday’s heavy rain, while train services were disrupted due to flooding and trees on lines. A number of events, such as Parkruns, were called off.
In Herefordshire villagers, volunteers and fire crews spent the night pumping water out of buildings and trying to rescue stock.
Several flood warnings remained in place across the region as well as more less severe flood alerts. Flood barriers were up in Bewdley, Worcestershire, and in Frankwell, Shrewsbury.
Cannock Chase Parkrun
Cannock Chase Parkrun was cancelled due to fallen trees blocking the course
In Herefordshire, flood water flowed “like a river” through Ewyas Harold damaging homes and businesses.
The village fire station said flooding had been at a record high and crews had been busy all night with incidents in the centre.
Sophie Wareing, who owns the village shop, said a lot of her stock had been ruined but the clean-up effort was “what community spirit looked like”.
“We didn’t even put a plea out, people just turned up,” she added.
Ms Wareing said it was “essential” that the shop reopened as soon as possible, as many elderly people relied on it.
Sophie Wareing owns the village shop in Ewyas Harold and said it needed to reopen as soon as possible
One resident, Claire, who has lived in Ewyas Harold all her life, said she and other volunteers were trained by the local fire service to allow them to respond to flooding.
She was pumping water from The Dog pub when the water breached the barrier, and the situation changed “dramatically”, she said. “It changed very quickly from, ‘lets see if we can save it, to we now need to get people out’.”
“[The water] was over waist deep and the current was just colossal.
“We were having to pin each other down into the water to try to stop ourselves from getting taken off by the current,” she added.
Herefordshire firefighters also assisted with rescue efforts in Monmouth after South Wales Rescue service declared a major incident due to severe and widespread flooding.
The Bridge Inn
Flood water surrounded the entrance to The Bridge Inn, in Michaelchurch Ecclesley, Herefordshire, on Friday
Mark Benthan, landlord of The Bridge Inn, in Michaelchurch Ecclesley, Herefordshire, said: “Twelve hours ago the situation was dire, we had water coming through the walls, it’s the sort you only see once in living memory”.
However, he added that after a “monumental rally round” and working through the night, he planned to reopen on Saturday afternoon.
There were fears some areas of Worcestershire, which suffered from flooding in November last year, would be badly affected again but Dave Throup, a retired Environment Agency manager, said Tenbury Wells had “dodged a bullet”.
“Twenty miles difference in orientation of the rain band would have been a very different outcome,” he said on social media, warning river levels were high anyway.
Some 80.6mm of rainfall was recorded at a the Suckley rain gauge in Worcestershire in the 12 hours to 06:00 GMT on Saturday, the Met Office said.
Commuters in Birmingham suffered transport problems on Friday and into Saturday.
Buses were affected with one passenger reporting water flowing into a bus passing through the Bournville Lane tunnel.
Elsewhere vehicles slowly ploughed through water along Stratford Road in Sparkhill and on Green Road in Hall Green the water level surpassed 4ft (1.22m).
Warwickshire Police
Flood water at Kenilworth Ford had reached the 4ft (1.22m) marker, police said
In Warwickshire, police warned of road closures and urged motorists not to drive through floodwater.
Water at Kenilworth Ford, where the Finham Brook flows past Kenilworth Castle and into Abbey Fields, had reached the 4ft (1.22m) marker.
Clive Boulstridge, who grew up in the area said he had not seen the water level that high “for over a decade”.
Other roads closed in the county included Princes Drive, in Leamington Spa, where two cars got stranded, and A44 near Little Compton, where a fallen down tree blocked the road.
Marie O’Riley
Princes Drive in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire was closed on Saturday
Transport for Wales said a number of stations were shut and urged passengers not to try to travel between Shrewsbury and Newport as it could not guarantee they would reach their destination by road.
A spokesperson said the railway between Newport and Hereford remained closed until Monday, there was ongoing disruption between Hereford and Shrewsbury and both the Abergavenny and Pontypool & New Inn stations were shut.
West Midlands Railway warned of disruption to services on Saturday across the region.
Buses were running instead of trains between Walsall and Rugeley Trent Valley, due to damage to the overhead electric wires, the train provider said.
Across the West Midlands a number of Parkruns, which were scheduled to take place at 09:00 GMT on Saturday, were cancelled.
Beacon Parkrun in Lichfield was called off early on Saturday morning due to the course being flooded and Cannock Chase Parkrun was also cancelled as fallen trees had blocked the course.
