HEREFORD and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service has responded to 80 flood-related incidents in the past 48 hours.

In total, more than 160 calls were received from Saturday until today.

The majority were taken from 10.30pm to 3.00am on Saturday night/Sunday morning and Evesham, Hereford, Ross on Wye and Worcester were particularly badly affected.  

Fire crews and water first responders rescued 50 people, including 15 residents in Kempsey, near Worcester, at 5am on Sunday, after quickly rising water trapped them in their houses.

Two people were evacuated from their property in Bevere, Worcester and taken to safety by one of the Service’s water rescue boats.

Crews attended about 63 calls for assistance and most of the incidents involved either motorists stranded in their vehicles in flood water or residents with flood water in their properties.

Fire Control operators also received 53 calls where they gave advice and the attendance of a crew was not required.  In addition to this they also dealt with a significant number of other non-flood related incidents such as road traffic collisions and fires.

Councillor Derek Prodger, chairman of the Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Authority, said:  “Fire control staff and the fire crews worked tirelessly over the weekend. 

"They did such a fantastic job in providing the public with the support and reassurance that they needed during this severe weather. 

"I would like to thank them for their professionalism and commitment during this time”.

Chief Fire Officer, Mark Yates, said: “We are fortunate to have water rescue equipment across our service which has helped tremendously with our response over the last few days.

"Our fire crews are constantly training for all eventualities and this stands them in good stead for when they are faced with incidents like the ones they dealt with over the last few days.

"It ensures we can continue to give the best possible response to our communities.

“Thankfully a lot of the water is now receding but we would like to remind motorists to exercise caution and not to enter flood water.

"A lot of the rescues we carried out over the last few days were to people stuck in their cars.

"There may also be a lot of debris on the roads so driving conditions could still be difficult.  Please do take extra care when driving.”