More than 100 homes have been evacuated
after floods and gale-force winds caused disruption across Cornwall.
People were trapped
in their cars and homes by the rising floodwaters, which reached up to 6ft (2m)
deep in places.
St Blazey, St
Austell, Mevagissey and Lostwithiel were the worst hit areas. The Environment
Agency warned further floods were possible overnight.
The disruption
includes:
- Train services in and out of the county have been affected by
landslides
- Schools have been shut while the county's main trunk roads have
been closed for several hours
- Twenty-five vehicles have been recovered from floodwater
- Cornwall Council has set up an emergency shelter at Polkyth Leisure
Centre in St Austell, where 200 blankets and 200 groundsheets have been
donated by the charity ShelterBox
The Environment
Agency said heavy localised showers were forecast which would bring a risk of
further flooding.
There is a flood
warning in place on the River Fowey in Cornwall and flood watches on
four other rivers in the county.
A spokesman said:
"We are monitoring the situation closely.
"Our teams are
on the ground clearing debris from rivers and grates, checking flood defences
and assisting emergency services."
An old bridge in
Lostwithiel remains closed to both traffic and pedestrians as engineers prepare
to examine it for damage caused by debris.
Barry Green, 46,
the owner of a bakery in the town, said the flooding had "pretty much
destroyed" his shop. He was working when water spilled into the premises
early in the morning."It all kicked off at about 5.15am when I heard a
bubbling outside in the drains," he said."I was up at 3am and
everything was fine. I had to quickly get the stock high up off the floor and
call the flood lines to let them know we had a problem." Within three or
four minutes it was knee high "One minute it was just lapping at the front
door with no problem and I was just lifting a few boxes then I opened the front
door and it just came pouring through. The speed of it was very, very
surprising."
One woman in
Lostwithiel said her car was swept 80ft to 100ft (25m to 30m) away from her
home and was left wedged in a pile of rubble down the road.
"The worst of
the rain is over, but the water's still flowing down Quay Street in both
directions."
Cornwall-based
international aid charity ShelterBox sent blankets to the emergency shelter in
Polkyth, the first time it has delivered aid in the county.
Tony Lay, from
ShelterBox, said: "Flooding is flooding and it happens all around the
world.
"For affected
families it is the same, whether you are in Cornwall or in Africa.
"You lose all
your personal belongings and it is shocking."
Cornwall Council
Leader Alec Robertson said he had spoken to the prime minister on the telephone
earlier who had expressed his sympathy and offered government help.
All the county's
main trunk roads and travel routes have been affected by the bad weather.
The A30 was closed
across Bodmin Moor after a lorry shed its load but has now reopened.The A38 at
Glynn Valley has reopened after being closed in both directions for several
hours.
Rail services have
also been disrupted.The mainline track between Penzance and London Paddington
was closed for several hours.The Newquay to Par branch line remains closed due
to a storage tanker which has washed down on to the railway track and
subsidence under the lines.
Schools
around the county did not open.
The Eden Project,
which was hit by 3ft (1m) of floodwater in places, said it was expecting to be
closed for at least a week.
Chief Executive Tim
Smit said: "The heavens opened and, in a period of about 40 minutes, there
was a deluge.
"We need to
dry everything, we'll need to probably get rid of a lot of stuff and the clean
up is going to be horrendous."
