Surrey floods: Evacuations made as damage continues

Surrey Fire & Rescue is urging people not to drive through water

People and premises in Surrey have been evacuated after floods hit some parts of the county.

Lloyd Hatton, flood response lead at Surrey Fire and Rescue Service, said 50 to 100 people had been evacuated from Addlestone and over 150 people led to safety in Chertsey since Sunday.

Residents have seen water levels start to fall after four days of flooding.

Warnings remain in place but the risk is currently very low, according to the Environment Agency.

In the early hours of Monday, 32 people were also evacuated from Abbeyfields mobile home park in Thameside, Chertsey, on the banks of the river.

Tim Oliver, leader of Surrey County Council (SCC), said dozens of firefighters were helping to deal with flooding incidents following heavy rain and Storm Henk.

He said people had been evacuated from homes and a business in impacted areas. People had been trapped in cars and boats, he added.

Mr Oliver said SCC was supporting the Environment Agency, Surrey Police and local district and borough councils to assist residents and businesses affected.

He added river levels will continue to be monitored.

'Twenty caravans'

Traveller Sol Smith said a group of 20 caravans had to leave their pitch at a site behind Abbeyfields mobile home park on Saturday night.

He said the river burst its banks near the M3 and flooded nearby fields and lakes before it reached the travellers.

He said Spelthorne council had warned the group about the floods three days earlier, but had not told them where to go.

"We are 20 caravans and each one has a family with about two or three children, some of them have four or five," he said. "We can't be on a road. We're at Sheep Walk. We're still there now and vehicles are still trying to cut through."

By Wednesday, a landowner had offered a site off the road, but Mr Smith said the council and the landowner were still trying to resolve "red tape".

He also said the council had provided four toilets and a friend had provided another, but there were not enough.

A Surrey County Council spokesperson said: "We can confirm we are supporting approximately 120 people and 25 caravans who had to move from Littleton Lane Community due to recent flooding.

"We are working alongside Spelthorne Borough Council to address their needs whilst we do all we can to find an alternate temporary site within the local area. Together we'll continue to assist in order to ensure they are safe and well, until they are able to return."

Angeli Gyani and her husband David Mason are currently marooned in their home by flooding

Mr Hatton said firefighters had returned to Chertsey and Addlestone to help those who had lost power or who had welfare issues.

Four dedicated rest centres also opened in the area, he told BBC Radio Surrey.

He warned people not to drive or walk through flood water.

"You can't see through this water. You've got broken drains. You've got debris. There's lots of hidden dangers," he said.

On Tuesday, families put on waders to walk through water flooding the A308.

Homes and businesses along the river are flooded, including a boat-building business at Laleham Reach

Almost the whole of the Thames in Surrey has been subject to warnings, affecting areas including Chertsey, Walton, Sunbury, Molesey and Egham.

Runnymede councillor Sam Jenkins said: "The water levels on the Thames seem to be stabilising, but the fallout for Runnymede isn't over yet. Some properties are still at significant risk."

Surrey County Council previously said it was working with the Environment Agency and borough councils to deliver a flood relief plan, known as the River Thames Scheme.

A six-week statutory consultation will run from 22 January to 4 March with public meetings in Egham, Chertsey, Shepperton, Molesey, Walton-on-Thames, Sunbury, Staines and Thorpe.

The Environment Agency said floods were on a par with those in 2003 but not expected to reach levels seen in 2014. One Staines resident described the floods as a "repeat performance" of 2014.

Angeli Gyani, whose house near the Runnymede Pleasure Ground was marooned in waist-deep water, said there had been comparisons between the water levels of 2014 but no-one had looked at the speed.

"It came in so fast," she said. "It was coming up much faster this year, faster than in 2014, which is critical. Knowing the speed of it allows you to prepare."

She said her husband David Mason had been monitoring data and had heard from the Environment Agency several flood gauges had become unresponsive, probably due to water ingress.

She said that gauges at Bell Weir in Old Windsor had been unresponsive since Monday evening.

The Environment Agency confirmed the gauges at Bell Weir Lock were currently not transmitting data.

A spokesman for the agency said: "When the flood water has reduced and we are able to safely access the gauges we will fix the assets. This does not affect our ability to monitor and predict flood risk, as the gauges at Bell Weir are part of a much larger network which provide a picture across the whole Thames and its tributaries."

He said the gauges at Old Windsor and Staines remained operational.

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