Shropshire storms leave trail of flooding and damage

The deluge wreaked havoc on the county's roads and Severn Trent Water was inundated with calls for help.

County home-owners were today also counting the cost after lightning bolts struck their properties, leaving a trail of destruction.

The downpour fell on sun baked ground causing excess water to run into drains and sewers which were left overflowing.

A woman from Telford was rescued from her car by a passer-by after she became submerged in rising floodwater yesterday.

Surinder Kaur, from Sutton Hill, got into difficulty when trying to drive her Mini through a swollen ford in Furnace Grange Road, in Trescott, near Bridgnorth.

Within seconds the car was submerged in four feet of water and carpenter Dan Flavell was pulling the frightened woman out of the back window.

Mrs Kaur's husband Piarah Ram hailed Mr Flavell's actions saying he had saved his wife's life.

Another three cars had to be pulled clear of floodwater underneath a railway bridge in Albrighton, and staff at nearby Albrighton Garden Centre had to sweep away floodwater from its restaurant.

The rain came along with thunderstorms which marked an end to the sub-tropical conditions of recent weeks.

Spectacular lightning bolts cracked the skies over the county but caused thousands of pounds worth of damage when they struck houses.

Lightning blew a hole in the roof of a house in Chancery Park in Priorslee, Telford, causing £50,000 of damage.

The owner of the house in Priorslee, who did not want to be named, said he had been woken by a loud boom shortly before 5.30am yesterday. He said the damage would take two months to repair and estimated it would cost £50,000.

The windows of a car were smashed when a lightning strike "like an explosion" blew a hole in a chimney in Cleobury Mortimer and brought rubble raining down on neighbouring properties.

The lightning struck the chimney on the former Exchange Brasserie in High Street, in the early hours yesterday. Bricks showered down the side of the three-storey building and went through the side windows of a Volkswagen Polo which had been left parked in the driveway of neighbouring Cleobury Garage.

Debris falling down the other side landed on a flat roof and courtyard of the adjoining building which houses the Severn Hospice shop on the ground floor.

David Reiner, who lives on the third floor of the building housing the charity shop, said the lightning bolt woke him at about 3.50am.

The 46-year-old shop supervisor at the post office in Cleobury High Street said: "I heard a deep rumble, which I thought at first was the thunder, and then there was a blinding flash. "I thought there had been an explosion. It was just like field artillery, there is no other way to describe it."

Mr Reiner, whose parents own the building in which he lives, said the Exchange Brasserie had been closed for about a year and the landlord of the building lived in Rowley Regis in the West Midlands.

He was understood to be visiting the scene late yesterday. Severn Trent Water has drafted in extra staff to man the phones as calls flood in to report waterlogging across the county.

Pete Collins, waste water manager for Severn Trent said:"We've got extra staff on the phones in our call centre and additional teams available on the ground to deal with flooding issues. We're also out and about keeping an eye on those areas with a high risk of flooding. When the weather has been as dry as it has been for the past few weeks, the rain has a hard time sinking into the compacted soil, so it just runs off the surface and goes directly into drains and sewers."

And Mr Collins offered the following advice for customers who are experiencing flooding. "If you have flooding at your home, check to see if it's just rainwater or if it's sewage that has come from an overflowing sewer, possibly through a manhole cover in your garden or outside your property," he said.

"If it's just rainwater, the flooding should subside when it stops raining, although it can take up to four hours for water to drain away, so be patient." He said where sewage is escaping this is a priority and people should call 0800 783 4444.

See also:

• Car windows smashed by bricks in Shropshire lightning strike

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