Residents of riverside towns in England that were swamped by rains that washed over Europe this week bailed out Friday as flooding disrupted train service and officials warned that waters could rise in the days ahead.
A powerful storm that brought damaging winds inundated more than 1,000 homes and businesses and left several communities under muddy brown water, officials said.
Buildings and cars were submerged as streets turned to streams, farmland was flooded and boats were torn from their moorings.
The ground was already saturated from a series of fall tempests when Storm Henk struck with intense rainfall.
Even as drier weather arrived, hundreds of flood warnings were in place Friday and the Environment Agency warned that the impact from flooding could last another five days.
Aerial footage showed extensive flooding through towns and cities in Nottinghamshire, Worcestershire, and Yorkshire.
The River Trent through Nottinghamshire county topped its banks, leading the county to declare a major incident, which can help it obtain government assistance.
Residents in Nottinghamshire expressed anger and worry over the loss of their homes.
“It’s just horrendous…(I’m) upset and angry and scared to know what we’ve got to find and what we’ve got to do, to put everything right again,” Collingham resident Jack Loughton told British broadcaster Sky News.
Fellow Collingham resident Erica Allen’s entire ground floor of her home had flooded, damaging most of her belongings.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was in the region and wanted to assure residents that the country’s environmental agency had people on the ground in affected areas.
