Shropshire floods: Property under threat and drivers rescued after weather batters county
Shropshire remained under siege from floodwater on Wednesday after fresh flood warnings were issued and residents were warned of the threat of properties being affected.
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The Government's flood warning service said heavy rainfall in Shrewsbury meant flooding of property, roads and farmland was expected to occur from 11pm on Tuesday., with river levels expected to peak on Thursday.
The service said: "We expect flooding to affect Gravel Hill lane, Sydney Avenue, Frankwell car park and Victoria Avenue are flooded. B5067, Berwick Road and St Julians Friars car park flooded. Predicted peak at Welshbridge 4.4 to 4.8m on Thursday morning.
"Further showers are forecast over the next 24 hours. We expect river levels to remain high for several days.
"We are closely monitoring the situation. Our incident response staff are checking defences.
"Please avoid using low lying footpaths near local watercourses and plan driving routes to avoid low lying roads near rivers, which may be flooded."
Shropshire Council announced on Wednesday morning that St Julian's and both Frankwell car parks were "closed until further notice due to flooding", while Raven Meadows multi-storey was also shut due to a power cut, before reopening mid-morning.
However, Raven Meadows road was flooded between the car park and Roushill, meaning drivers had to access the multi-storey via Meadow Place with the rest of Raven Meadows converted into a two-way street.
Several other roads in Shrewsbury and Ironbridge were closed though as river levels rose.
A new flood warning was issued for the River Corve at Ludlow, where overflowing water was expected to affect homes, highways and land from midnight on Tuesday onwards.
A statement on the flood warning service's website said: "We expect flooding to affect properties and roads in the Corve Street area of Ludlow.
"Further showers are forecast over the next 24 hours. We expect river levels to remain high until Wednesday morning, 03/01/24.
"We are closely monitoring the situation."
That came after at least five people were rescued from vehicles stuck in water within two hours in Shropshire yesterday evening.
Drivers were urged to avoid a main Shropshire trunk road on Tuesday evening due to flood water leaving a number of vehicles stranded, and a major traffic island in Shrewsbury was "completely flooded", with police urging motorists to stay away.
Peaks across Shropshire have been predicted for Wednesday and Thursday, although Environment Agency experts have been pushing back predicted river levels highs since the weekend.
As well as the fresh warning for Ludlow, there are five flood warnings for the River Severn at Bridgnorth, The Quarry in Shrewsbury, Ironbridge and Jackfield, Quatford, and Hampton Loade and Highley, as well as two on the River Vyrnwy at Maesbrook and Melverley. The flood warning for the Pool Quay area north of Welshpool comes with an advisory that the A483, which was raised a few years ago, could be under water.
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Lesser flood alerts are also in place on the length of the Severn through the county and on the Upper and Lower Teme, the River Worfe ,Tern and Perry catchments, the Rea Brook and Cound Brook and the Ledwyche Brook and Rea Brook as well as the River Lugg on the Shropshire Hereford border.
Updates to most of the regions flood warnings and alerts are expected by around 10am.
This morning, police have been in attendance on the A442 where a tree has fallen in the road on a blind bend. North Shropshire SNT urged motorists to "please drive carefully".
On Tuesday night, West Mercia Police said the A41 in Market Drayton was flooded and vehicles had become stuck, not reopening until Wednesday morning.
Rail replacement buses have been running between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton after all lines were blocked because of the extreme weather.
West Midlands Railway said: "All lines are blocked between these stations.
"Road transport has been ordered between these stations, calling at all stops."
Near Shrewsbury, the A49 traffic island was "completely flooded" and police urged motorists to exercise caution.
The Operations & Communications Centre team said on X: "The A49 island in Shrewsbury at Preston Island towards A5 is completely flooded. Flooding expected in surrounding areas. Please take extra care."
People posting on social media reported flooding on the road between Shrewsbury and Church Stretton and on the stretch from Ludlow to Leominster. A video showed water across the road between the turnings for All Stretton and Church Stretton.
One of the motorists, Emily Baker, said the Onibury level crossing was "waterlogged".
Duty operations manager Nick Wilcox said: “We’ve seen significant rainfall across the region which has caused some flooding on the A49 in Shropshire. Our teams are currently en route to assess the situation at the scene.
"Our advice for motorists is to consider using an alternative route and to leave additional time for their journey due to the weather conditions.”
A number of roads have become impassable due to flood water in the county and surrounding areas.
In Telford and Wrekin, Walcot Road in Rodington Heath was closed due to flood water. Individual roads in Telford were also swamped with standing water.
Emergency services were also called to rescue a number of drivers who got stuck in flood water.
At least five people were rescued from stranded vehicles within two hours on Tuesday evening.
Firefighters were called to incidents in Hodnet, Ironbridge, Minsterley, Shrewsbury and Telford as floods caused chaos on the roads.
A crew from Shrewsbury was sent to Battlefield Roundabout at 6.22pm to rescue someone from a van, while just after midnight firefighters were called to the Preston Roundabout but found two people had been pushed out of water before they arrived.
Yellow weather warnings for rain and wind were in place until 9pm last night.
In its latest forecast for Shropshire, the Met Office said we can expect it to be "somewhat brighter (than yesterday) with a mixture of cloud and sunny intervals".
It added: "However there'll also be showers, these heavy at times and possibly merging into bands of rain. Less windy. Maximum temperature 8 °C.
"Outlook for Thursday to Saturday: Probably mostly dry and bright on Thursday with isolated showers. Often cloudy thereafter with the odd shower, but also some brighter periods. Turning a bit colder with patchy overnight frosts."
