Isle of Wight: Residents tackle floods amid rain forecasts

Claire Draper, who lives on the island, told how her car became trapped in the water

Residents on the Isle of Wight have been tackling floods after a night of heavy rainfall.

The Environment Agency put flood warnings in place overnight for Sunday - for the Gurnard Luck and Yarmouth.

The alert was triggered by rising river or tidal levels and the agency said properties were at risk of flooding. They urged people to take action to protect themselves and their property.

A yellow Met Office warning for rain has been extended to Monday evening.

The warning at Gurnard affects Gurnard Pines to Marsh Road.

On Sunday, Isle of Wight Council opened two information hubs for flooding victims - one in Gunville, Newport and another at East Cowes Library.

It is also operating a flood line for islanders to call for guidance.

Flood warnings for Sunday also include:

• Cowes, East Cowes and Newport

• Sandown, Brading and Bembridge on the Eastern Yar

• Whitwell, Wroxall, Langbridge, Alverstone on the Eastern Yar

Homes were flooded in the rain overnight

Sam Loba, a fisherman who lives on the island, spent Saturday night helping people whose homes had flooded.

After seeing people in distress on Facebook, Mr Loba and six friends offered their assistance for free.

Using knowledge from a previous job in groundworks and drainage, Mr Loba helped clear water from roads in Ryde, Newport, East Cowes and Newchurch.

"The water was absolutely everywhere - banks were burst, streams had flooded and it was in loads of people's homes.

"It was overwhelming at points, some of the water was so fast and so strong, there was nothing we could do," he said.

The team members were dubbed "heroes" on social media - and after just four hours sleep, Mr Loba said he was continuing to help people on Sunday.

Crews from the Environment Agency have also been clearing blockages and operating flood defences on the island.

A spokesperson said: "We advise people to stay away from swollen rivers and if they see any blockages to report them to our incident hotline."

Island Roads, which is responsible for roads on the Isle of Wight, said it had been "working around the clock responding to emergencies".

It said these included closing several roads, clearing gulleys and drains, removing fallen trees, replenishing sandbag stocks and sweeping roads clear of silt in between the torrential rainfall.

Mr Loba said he helped clear the flooded ambulance base at St Mary's Hospital

On Saturday night Southern Water said the adverse weather was causing issues with the water supply for some islanders.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, it said heavy rain was causing low pressure or loss of supply to people in Ventnor.

The company told the BBC that the water supply had resumed for all its customers on the Isle of Wight on Sunday morning and that it did not expect any more issues over the weekend.

A spokesperson said a fleet of 12 tankers over to the island to help support the recovery of the network.

"Our teams have been working through the night to increase our water production levels and we're pleased to say that these are slowly recovering.

"We're keeping an eye on the weather and preparing in case of more heavy rain so we can mitigate any further impact on our customers," they added.

Newport resident Lulu Dunford said the water at Forest Hills was up to her knees on Saturday evening

South Western Railway said trains were not running on Island Line due to the heavy rain and flooding.

It said it hoped to have a timeframe to reopen the line soon.

Buses continue to replace trains between Ryde Esplanade and Shanklin.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said it had not been called to any flood-related incidents on the island overnight.

The Isle of Wight NHS Trust said hospital services were not affected.

Wightlink, which runs Portsmouth to Ryde and Lymington to Yarmouth ferries, said all of its Sunday services were running to timetable, as normal.

Royston Batcoe took this photo of vehicles on Briddlesford Road, Ryde

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