Pregnant woman describes underwater escape from flood in Ryde

Claire Drakeford said she owed her life to her fiancé who pulled her through a submerged window

A pregnant woman has described how she had to submerge herself under water to escape her flooded basement flat through a window.

Claire Drakeford, 39, had returned from a night shift to find flash flooding in Ryde, Isle of Wight, on 25 October.

She managed to get into her flat and woke up her fiancé, Will Dibbens, 36, before water overwhelmed their home.

Ms Drakeford said: "I didn't think I was going to get out and if it wasn't for Will I wouldn't have."

'Popping sound'

The care worker, who is three months pregnant, said she initially had to enter the property in The Strand through the window because the path to her front door was knee-deep in water.

She said she alerted her fiancé, found her pet tortoise under water and also picked up her hamster cage and cat.

She recalled: "All of a sudden I heard a popping sound and all of this water just came gushing towards us and the furniture lifted and was coming towards me.

"I've got furniture hitting me and I'm trying to climb, with my cat, and obviously trying to climb over our bed which is rising, because it lifted up.

Ryde residents said water gushed through flood gates that were not fully closed

"I finally got over to Will and the water was that bad he had to submerge my head and drag me out of that window with my cat in tow."

Ms Drakeford said the resulting damage was "like a bomb had gone off".

She said: "Our fridge was up in the air wedged between a wall and the side. There was nothing we could save. With 11 years of our lives together, we have lost everything."

The rented flat is now uninhabitable, with water still on the floor.

Markings on the wall show how high the water reached in the flat

Their landlord has provided them with temporary accommodation, but the pair say they are not sure where they will go next, having only a small amount of savings to pay for a deposit on another flat.

Isle of Wight Council said in a statement: "Our housing team have supported 19 people with flooding issues and four are in accommodation provided by the council."

Local residents have claimed the flooding was caused by the Environment Agency's failure to fully close flood gates.

Ryde councillor Michael Lilley said: "There is now clear evidence, seen by myself and my residents, that the flood gates at Simeon Recreation Ground had not been properly installed."

Ryde was hit by flash flooding following heavy rainfall

John O'Flynn, operations manager for the Environment Agency, said the flooding had been a "devastating issue" for residents.

He said an investigation was under way into the decision to install two flood defence boards and leave others open.

"That event was one of the largest rainfall events we've had. We had a month's rainfall in one day," Mr O'Flynn said.

"At the time it seemed the right thing to do - to give us the opportunity to reduce surface water flooding by allowing the water to go into the recreation ground.

"In hindsight it might have been better to have all the boards in, but it's too early to say."

Isle of Wight MP Bob Seely said the government has announced a flood relief package for affected residents.

He said Ryde had been included in the grant scheme for victims of Storm Babet, which struck the UK on 18 October.