‘I have never seen rain like it’ - St Neots residents’ shock as floods ‘gushed like waterfalls’

Unblocking drains in St Neots after the flash floods hit. PICTURE: Susan A Sangster (Image: Archant)

After heavy downpours at the weekend, St Neots town centre and many other parts of the county suffered from massive amounts of flooding.

St Neots residents were shocked to find “huge pools of water appear within 20 minutes” and expressed it was “hard to prepare yourself for something like that”.

Susan Sangster said: “Nothing you can do can prepare you for such weather.

“It came within 20 minutes and I was with my 11-year-old son J-D and a family member at the time. We were on our way to a restaurant to celebrate one of my son’s achievements.

“As we entered The Coach House, St Neots, we heard the rain, and we all looked out the window and had never seen rain like it.

“The raindrops were the biggest I’d ever seen, and within 10 minutes the High Street was under water.

“People scrambled to protect their shops from flooding.”

Another resident Jim Robertson shared his experience, he said: “I was on the bike at the top of Bushmead Road when it started.

“Bushmead was like a river by the time I got to the bottom. I have never seen rain like it.

“I went through town the roads were already inches deep, water was gushing off roofs like waterfalls. Drains had whirlpools around them.

“Quite simply the only way to cope with a storm of that nature is to rebuild the infrastructure with storm drains.

“That would be a huge expense for a once in 20-year event.

“Oh, and my iPhone got wrecked despite being in a dry bag that I use when I go sailing.”

Eaton’s Plumbing and Property service is now offering free out wet hovers and flood clean up equipment for elderly or vulnerable people.

They said: “If you know someone who may not be able to manage flooding clean up on their own contact our company and we will happily do what we can to help out.”