Thunderbolts and lightning!

Thursday 13 August 2015

Torrential rain causing landslides and flooding in homes had firefighters “stretched to their limits” last night as they worked through to the early hours of the morning.

Aside from spectacular thunder and lightening, last night’s storm caused so much damage and flooding that some non-urgent calls had to wait while teams of firefighters focussed their resources on priority cases.

And despite the fact that more thunder and lightning is expected today before clearing up in the early afternoon, the indications are that the Battle of Flowers parade is going ahead.

This morning, the Jersey Fire and Rescue Service said that some Islanders had to abandon the ground floors of their homes last night because of flooding. They and the other emergency services have been dealing with mudslides that made some roads unusable this morning.

A report from the Fire Service this morning said: “At first the fire service received so many calls that they were handled on a priority basis, back up on call firefighters were called in to assist, and with a coordinated approach the fire service attempted to attend the ever growing list of pleas for assistance.

 “At the height of the extreme weather 20 firefighters dealt with over 50 calls in a three-hour period and were supported by colleagues from the ambulance service who attended an incident to check on a property owners’ welfare and assess damage.”

The police have also confirmed that they received 18 calls over the course of the night and early morning, covering collapsed walls, fallen trees, mudslides and flooding.

And it looked on the Jersey Met Office site this morning as though the rough weather might stick around for a while at least...

Main pic credit: Nick Venton Photography