'The worst night in living memory'

By Kathryn Edwards
BBC West Midlands

People in danger from floodwaters had to be winched to safety

Trains were cancelled, roads were shut and car owners were called to collect their vehicles from car parks before they became submerged.

As the rain kept falling, more areas were affected by flooding and people became stranded across the West Midlands.

Firefighters rescued children from schools, motorists would end up sleeping on motorways and eventually the RAF would be called to winch people to safety from their bedroom windows.

All during one night.

June and July in 2007 had been very wet, and many rivers and drainage systems were already saturated.

But on the morning of Friday, 20 July in some parts an inch of rain fell in some parts of the region in just an hour - and the heavy rain carried on falling.

By early afternoon, children at Cherry Orchard Primary School in Worcester had to be rescued by fire crews after a foot of water was reported there.

M5 gridlocked because of the flooding (pic by Farry Brown)

Vehicles were gridlocked on the M5 because of the flooding

It was the start of the school summer holidays and many families had set off on their getaway travels early - only to get stuck on the region's roads.

Routes in Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and Birmingham became impassable.

Cars had to be rescued by tractors and train services in Worcester stopped altogether when a landslide blocked a tunnel near Shrub Hill station.

'Incredibly surreal'

Vehicles were gridlocked across the M5 and 10,000 vehicles were stranded overnight on the M50.

Simon King was trying to get back home to Shaftesbury, Dorset, from Birmingham that night, but was stuck near the Strensham services on the M5 overnight.

"I was there from about 11pm to 4am and ended up sleeping in the second lane of the motorway," he said.

"I only realised we could move again when someone came over and tapped on my driver's window to wake me up.

"It was incredibly surreal, but there was a fantastic community feeling. People were willing to help anyone who needed it."

Hereford and Worcester Fire Service described that night as "the worst in living memory" and received more than 2,000 calls in 27 hours - more than 10% of its annual figure.

West Mercia Police dealt with an additional 1,000 emergency calls over one day.

FLOOD MEMORIES

"Village road was like a river"

"I've cried many, many tears"

"Staff were sleeping on air beds"

The River Isbourne burst its banks causing dozens of homes in the Worcestershire village of Sedgeberrow to flood.

An RAF Sea King helicopter was called in to help and over Friday night 62 people were winched from their bedrooms and roofs, and lowered in rescue boats.

Specialist lifeboat crews from across the UK were called help.

Alan Stanley, of the Severn Area Rescue Association, made up one of the boat crews called to Sedgeberrow that night.

"When we got to the village's main road we found water running down it as fast as you'd expect the Severn or the Teme to go," he said.

People watched as water started coming into their homes and thousands spent that night - and the rest of the weekend - in emergency rest centres.

Caravan park residents in Evesham, Bromyard and Welford-on-Avon, Warwickshire, also had to be winched to safety.

Eyewitnesses in Evesham reported seeing caravans floating down the river and hitting a bridge.

About 200 people were stranded at the New Inn at Cropthorn, Worcestershire, after the pub took in coach-loads of people when a road collapsed and then floods cut off the area.

People being rescued by boat in Worcester (pic by Pip Mills Photography)

Thousands had to spend the weekend in emergency refuge centres

Lesley Bond lives in Hylton Road, Worcester, was one of those whose homes were affected by the overflowing River Severn.

"When I looked out of the window, I screamed," she said.

"I just couldn't believe it. The water had gone way past our house and was going along the drive of the house next door.

"It was a mad panic."

The Environment Agency was heavily criticised by people like Mrs Bond for not acting quickly enough to put up flood barriers in places like Worcester.

Agency chiefs claimed they did not receive enough government funding to act on such a scale, but ministers said it had been an "unprecedented" amount of rain and it would have been hard to cope under any circumstances.

As water levels kept rising through Saturday and into Sunday, it would still be several days before the clean-up could begin in many parts of the West Midlands.