Man killed by falling tree as Storm Henk causes havoc in southern Britain

  • 1/3/2024
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A man was killed after a tree fell on his car in Gloucestershire and hundreds of people have been evacuated from their homes or rescued from vehicles as the impact of Storm Henk continued to cause havoc in parts of southern Britain. The man, who was in his 50s and from the Bath area, was fatally injured in the accident on Tetbury Road, between Tetbury and Cirencester, at about 3.15pm on Tuesday. Emergency services, including an air ambulance, attended. His next of kin and the coroner have been informed. At 1pm on Wednesday there were more than 600 flood warnings and alerts in England and Wales. There was one severe flood warning, meaning there is a danger to life, covering the River Ritec in Tenby, south-west Wales. Natural Resources Wales said: “Flooding has become very extensive within Kiln [holiday] Park and there is the risk of severe disruption to the community, with significant risk to life.” In Northamptonshire, many people were evacuated from Billing Aquadome caravan park with firefighters using boats to take some residents to safety. One residents, Robert Britchford, said: “I’m worried. We all are. This is the highest it has ever been. It’s the second time in three years that it has flooded. We felt it was coming, but we hoped it wouldn’t. Now we have to find hotels. They won’t let us back on until this is all sorted, so it could be a month before we come back.” In Loughborough, Leicestershire, dozens of homes were flooded when the Grand Union Canal began overflowing. John Brailsford, 67, said: “These are the worst floods I’ve seen in 38 years of living here. The river sometimes bursts its banks but that’s further away and we were told the canal would never flood. It’s very severe. I saw police, fire and ambulance crews all along the streets, some with dinghies which have been rescuing people.” In Hall Green, Birmingham, a man told how he helped rescue a woman and her three-year-old daughter after their car became stuck in water under a bridge on Tuesday afternoon. Liam Stych, 28, described how he heard the woman screaming “Help me, help me, please save my baby!” He said: “The front of her car was pointing down into the water so I dangled off the bridge but was careful not to put any more weight on the car in case it sank. I told the woman to remain calm and unwind her window and to hand me her child. I said to her ‘Give me baby’s hand, I’ll get her out’. “The woman could only get her window halfway down so I took the baby and literally hurled her behind me and into the lap of Tia [his partner] who was on the bridge.” He then used straps to secure the car to railings. “I then told the woman to climb into the back and get out the window. She managed to get out and we then held hands and just jumped together into the water after a count of three. It was about 5ft deep but was really strong and I dragged her out of the water.” There was also flooding in Worcester, where some homes and businesses close to the Severn were affected as the river rose. Bridges and roads in the city were closed. A man was taken to hospital after he was freed from a car filling with water in the Worcestershire village of Hollywood. A man and teenage boy were trapped in a vehicle for about 45 minutes in Weston, Staffordshire, with water up to the seats. The Met Office has issued another yellow severe weather warning for Thursday and into the early hours on Friday for a tranche of southern England. It said there is a chance of 20-30mm of rain falling in six to nine hours with a few places perhaps seeing 40-50 mm. The warning may bring more travel disruption as operators continue to try to get roads and rail lines back to normal that were hit by Storm Henk, which brought winds of more than 90mph to some areas on Tuesday.

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