A Shropshire driver had to be rescued from his car yesterday after severe flooding left his vehicle submerged past its windows.
Firefighters were called into action to come to the motorist’s aid after an attempt to cross a ford near the village of Condover left the car at the mercy of raging floodwaters.
Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service has shared images from the scene showing just how close the driver came to succumbing to the murky waters at Boreton Brook.
In one, the car can be seen stuck in the ford as brown floodwaters swirl around its windscreen and pour in through the driver-side window.
Brown floodwaters can be seen swirling around the car’s windscreen and pouring in through the driver-side window
SHROPSHIRE FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE
Then, fire crews can be seen coming to the driver’s aide, using ropes and poles to free him from his vehicle as the waters climb higher.
The fire service later confirmed that three “fire appliances” were called into action from nearby stations, urging the public to “please be aware of the dangers when near floodwater” in a statement.
A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman added: “We were called by the fire service to Condover in Shrewsbury to assess a man who had been submerged in floodwater.
“He was assessed and treated by ambulance staff before being conveyed to Royal Shrewsbury Hospital for further precautionary checks.”
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Firefighters were able to free the lucky driver from the partially-submerged vehicle
SHROPSHIRE FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE
The flooding came despite Shropshire having escaped yesterday’s Met Office yellow weather warning for rain – but England is currently at the behest of almost 200 flood warnings and alerts.
Across the country, the Environment Agency has issued 52 red flood warnings and 128 yellow flood alerts, with hotspots on the Dorset coast, Cambridgeshire and Manchester, and further cautions across the Midlands and the South West.
The EA’s flood risk manager Mark Garratt said: “It is especially important that people not drive though flood water – it is often deeper than it looks, and just 30cm of flowing water is enough to float your car.
“Across the country, Environment Agency teams have been out checking flood defences and clearing any debris from storm drains and are also supporting local authorities in responding to surface water flooding.”
The flooding came despite Shropshire having escaped yesterday’s Met Office yellow rain warning
SHROPSHIRE FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE
But the agency’s figures make for grim reading in some parts of the country – some 650 properties were flooded in Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and the home counties, though it estimated about 8,200 properties had been protected.
And there’s still more rain to come, with another yellow warning across parts of eastern England in place until 4pm today.
The Met Office warns of the “potential for some impacts and disruption” across the area, as well as the likelihood of the “flooding of a few homes and businesses”.
It adds: “Much of the warning area will see 15-20mm of rain, with a few places seeing 30-40mm. Whilst these totals are not unusual for the time of year, given recent very wet weather, some impacts and disruption are more likely than normal.”