RESIDENTS have been forced from their homes after a 'horror' flood ripped through Rockwell Green on Sunday.

Torrents of water rushed through Ditchford Cottages, leaving homes devastated after a nearby stream burst its banks.

The flooding came after Wellington was hit by the most rainfall in a single day for 44 years.

The resulting damage left possessions destroyed, electrics blown and residents worried for the future.

Sandra James was on such resident whose home was overcome by knee deep waters. She said: "There was no warning whatsoever, it just whooshed in, there was no time to set up any kind of flood defence. 

"It was a torrent, I came back to find people standing in the lane looking at the field which had become a sea.  "The water came up to a foot inside. It was horror, it’s never happened like this before. This shouldn’t have happened.  "I was wading in knee deep water, the stream at the end of our garden was a rushing torrent rushing through the end cottage."

The flash flood has left Sandra without downstairs sockets, rendering her cooker and other essential appliances useless. But she said she would remain in the property while repairs take place 'camping upstairs.'

On Monday Sandra was pulling up water-logged carpets, and feared the floods may have carried sewage through her home. She said: "All the carpet and furniture is sitting on water and absorbing it. I don’t know the damage – but all these books are just full of mud, they’ve got to be thrown.  "One just feels left alone. All you do is get passed on to somebody else who passes you on to somebody else. Nobody seems to actually care. We are worried the sewage has been affected and the water is contaminated."

Carly Pinney and her partner Gerge Western had just finished renovating their home in Ditchford Cottages after moving in three months ago. She said she was in shock after floodwater engulfed their new home within minutes. She said: "We just finished renovating the place after moving in three months ago. I think I’m still in shock.  "It came from the stream and pushed everything through. My partner George was at work – I looked out my bedroom window and saw the front garden was flooded. Half an hour later it was all through the house.    "The sofas were floating, the kitchen is gutted. We have been collecting antique furniture for a year and now that’s all gone. We just got a kitten and she was very bewildered. 

"We are with my mother in law at the moment now. All the electrics are gone, the sockets are flooded. It all went bang.  "The water started coming through the letter box, and then it burst trough and forced the door open. There wasn’t enough time to do anything."

Another resident, Sheila, tried to hold back the tide with rugs and blankets to buy time to evacuate her possessions upstairs. Sheila said when she asked the local authority about sandbags, they directed her to B&Q: "It came through the front, I tried to back it off with rugs and all sorts but they’re all rotten now.  "I managed to get my electrics out and I saved those. As it was coming in and filling up the noise was like a waterfall. A foot of water was whooshing in through the back door. It was coming from all sides.  "Advice by the authorities was to buy sandbags from B & Q – they don’t sell sandbags!" It appears the flooding caused thousands of pounds of damage, and residents have been left unhappy with the response by authorities - and raised concern about the impact of local developments on water drainage.

Responding to residents concerns, a spokesperson for Somerset Council said drainage systems had been overwhelmed, and appeared to blame the floods on climate change. They said:

"Our teams are on the ground in affected communities and will be there over the next few days – we know this is dreadful for those who have been flooded and we’re making sure people get the right support and advice.

“Flash flooding can happen without warning so we recommend property owners consider their own flood protection plans and source their own sandbags if needed. 

“This was virtually a month’s rain in a day which completely overwhelmed many drainage systems due to the sheer volume of water. We can’t be certain these events are due to climate change but all the science tells us events like this are going to happen more frequently so we need to support communities to become more resilient as well as working together to tackle the causes of climate change.”