Flash flood follows city downpour
FLASH floods wreaked havoc across parts of the North East yesterday.
Heavy rain struck at around lunchtime and drainage systems in parts of South Tyneside failed to cope with the sheer volume of water.
Some houses were flooded and roads had to be closed, particularly around the Tyne Dock, Harton and Chichester areas.
The Metro also came to a standstill between Jarrow and South Shields due to flooding in Tyne Dock.
Houses in Prince of Wales Close, Harton, were breached by the water after drains at the top of the street overflowed.
Eddie Dunn, 82, and wife Margaret, 79, saw water get into an outhouse and a side room and were left without power.
They were left frustrated as this isn’t the first time they’ve seen this happen.
Eddie said: “I’m very angry about what’s happening at the moment.
“We had a fight with the authorities about this 14 years ago during another flood when water was coming into the house. All the drains on the front street choke up when it rains and then it runs down here. Something needs to be done.”
Another house next door saw seri- ous flooding throughout and fire crews needed to pump water out of the living room, dining room and kitchen.
The most serious road closure occurred around the Jarrow Road/ Newcastle Road roundabout.
Two cars became stranded in the water, which was about a foot deep in the middle of the road.
Police closed both highways temporarily while the cars were removed and the water was drained.
Phil Reay, 45, of CP Recovery, arrived on the scene to remove one of the stricken vehicles. He said: “The rain was pounding down, it was absolutely mental.
“It’s a bad day for drivers but a good one if you’ve got a recovery truck.”
The Metro system was also unable to deal with the downpour and had to be closed down during a busy matchday afternoon.
A spokesperson from Nexus said: “Trains were off for about an hour as there was flooding from an extremely bad bout of rain that caused floodwater to form in the Tyne Dock tunnel.
“The tunnel has to be drained and engineers have inspected it.
“Thankfully, there was not too much damage and the resumed.”
Newcastle fans on their way to watch the 3pm match against Wigan were left struggling to get to the ground in time for kick off.
One fan, @brtoon, railed against Metro bosses on Twitter: “So annoying that I’ve missed my first NUFC home game of the season due to any contingencies for such weather interruption today.”
Popular fan account, @TaylorandBesty, said: “An interesting pre-match journey so far. Just commuting in from Atlantis.” service has now