Flash floods hit seaside town
FLASH flooding left a seaside town under a foot of water yesterday.
A major incident was declared after torrential rain left more than 50 properties inundated in Hayle, Cornwall.
Brown water could be seen rising against shop doors and windows in the high street yesterday.
Nigel Powell, 72, said: “I live 10 minutes from the centre and outside our door it was about a foot deep. My wife has lived here all her life – she’s 68 and she’s never seen it like that.”
The flash flooding came on day two of a five-day weather warning issued by the Met Office and saw parts of Devon and Cornwall brought to a standstill as flood water and fallen trees left large stretches of the A30 impassable. The main road through Hayle was shut for several hours while crews from Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service attended alongside local engineers.
One witness said: “Local shops are flooded, water is now draining away into the estuary.”
Police warned drivers to stop making “dangerous” U-turns on the A30 as tailbacks extended for seven miles.
Cornwall Council said: “Around 50 premises have been affected by floodwater. Devon and Cornwall Police has declared a major incident and we are co-ordinating a multi-agency response to reduce water levels in the area.”
NOROVIRUS outbreaks are shutting almost 900 NHS hospital beds every day – double the number of last year – as pressure on frontline services becomes “red hot”.
Meanwhile, statistics showed there have been over one million more A&E attendances this year already compared to 2018 and almost three million more than 2014.
Dr Nick Scriven, a former president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said: “The NHS is under the most pressure it has ever seen and quite how we will get through the next few weeks and months remains to be seen.”
There was a week-on-week increase of more than 12,000 more calls to the 111 hotline for urgent medical advice.
Siva Anandaciva, chief analyst at The King’s Fund charity, said: “The health service is running red hot, with around 95 per cent of beds occupied, well above the recommended safe level.”
An NHS spokesman said: “Hospitals now have more beds open than this time last year, but flu and norovirus have kicked in earlier adding pressure at a time when the NHS is looking after more people than ever before.”