Storm Antoni caused a crash every seven minutes across part of England as extreme weather battered the nation.
Four weather warnings – including an amber one – were in place on Saturday after the Met Office announced it was likely to be the “worst storm of the year”. The forecaster went as far as saying Storm Antoni posed a possible danger to life.
Devon and Cornwall Police reported dealing with a crash every few minutes over a three-hour period. A spokesman said: “We’ve had 23 road accidents in the last three hours, with around half due to trees falling and the other half involving collisions. It’s been a busy day.”
Meanwhile a nurse criticised the emergency response in their town. Paul Jones-King, 47, who has lived in Loftus, North Yorkshire, for 18 years, said he is “angry” and “really frustrated” after his home was flooded.
Paul Jones–King, 47, who has lived in Loftus, North Yorkshire, for 18 years, said he is “angry” and “really frustrated” after his home was flooded
“I just want to cry to be honest with you,” Mr Jones-King told the PA news agency.
“I’m a nurse, I finished a night shift this morning, was sat having a cup of coffee before I was due to go to bed, and literally within 10 minutes your house is flooding.
He added: “Everyone is just arguing among themselves, no-one has done anything, and we’ve flooded again.”
Mr Jones-King estimated that around 20 properties in the nearby area will have been affected by the flooding.
He said: “It really is down to the Environment Agency to come up with a solution rather than just saying, ‘unfortunately you’re in a flooded area’.”
He added: “It’s a real poor response from Redcar and Cleveland Council. There’s no support, they’ve dumped some bags, and that’s it, they’ve gone.
“I just want to cry to be honest with you,” Mr Jones–King told the PA news agency.
A spokesman for the Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council said: “The council responded immediately when called out to the need for help and a crew was deployed to the scene by early morning. Further crews were mobilised throughout the morning as the scale of the flooding became apparent.
“The crews were at the scene all day to work with the emergency services to keep people safe. This work included making roads safe to use, clearing gulleys to allow the water to run away and providing help to residents to protect their homes.”
Meanwhile in Dublin, eight people have been evacuated from their homes due to flooding. Dublin Fire Brigade said one person had to be taken to hospital.
Met Office meteorologist Simon Partridge said gusts of 78mph were measured at Berry Head in Devon and 43mm of rain fell in Scarborough, North Yorkshire – almost half of August’s average rainfall.
“The rain is still ongoing at the moment, there’s still a fair bit of thunder and rain, particularly across northern England and East Anglia,” Mr Partridge added.
“There has been some localised flooding.”
