Shropshire mother describes drama of getting stranded in flood water with her two children
A Shropshire mother today described the moment she and her young children found themselves stuck in a car as floodwaters rose around them.
Sharon Davies, her 10-year-old daughter, Tilly, and eight-year-old son, Sebastian, were in the family car just a few hundred metres from their home when the drama began.
She had to take the decision to leave the safety of the vehicle and risk being swept away in the torrent of water when it began pouring inside.
Mrs Davies, 53, has warned people not to underestimate the power of flood water.
And she praised emergencies services who struggled through torrential rain and flooding to reach her.
Mrs Davies and the children had been visiting a friend on Tuesday evening when she got caught in the flood near her home in Weston Rhyn, near Oswestry.
She said: "I saw how bad the rain was and we left early. We got just past the Last Inn crossroads and onto the lane when the car stalled. We had driven through a couple of puddles but nothing much.
"I rang my friend who has a 4x4 to see if she could tow us out but quickly the water began to rise. It was just pouring down the lane like a river and was bringing branches and other debris with it.
"Then the water began seeping through the footwell."
The two children had climbed from the back into the front of the car and, as the water came in, they began to get upset.
Mrs Davies said she was worried that if the three of them stepped out into water they could be swept away.
She added: "I ran 999 and asked for help from the fire service. But they had trouble finding me and the longer we waited the higher the water was getting inside. I was then worried that it might reach a stage when we couldn't open the door because of the force of the water and were trapped.
"I took the decision that we had to get out. But when we stepped out it was well over my knees and up to the children's waists. We just waded best we could down the lane and then saw the fire engine.
"The firemen were brilliant. They got us into their vehicle and put blankets around us."
Paramedics in an ambulance that had arrived checked the children over to ensure they were not suffering from hypothermia and the ambulance was then able to slowly negotiate the water to take them home.
Mrs Davies said: "The children were carried into the house and I had a piggy back from firemen.
"The emergency services, the neighbours and the insurance company have been fantastic. The car is a write-off, but things could have been so much worse."
