FILEY, England, - Families in northeast England were Sunday mopping up after flash floods which forced the evacuation of 80 homes near the coast, with the worst hit told they may not be able to return for weeks.

Around 250 people were rescued from their houses in the town of Filey Saturday after torrential rain, which also hit several other areas of Britain. Station Officer Dave Silversides of North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said it might be weeks before some homes were restored to normal.

I have been telling people not to go back and start using electrical appliances before an expert has been to check everything out. Silversides added. In the worst affected area in Filey, water levels reached three feet. It was the worst flooding Filey had seen in living memory.
(Dave Silversides)

The water has receiding Sunday and all the main roads into the town had reopened, police said. The previous day had seen a string of emergency calls. Two adults and a baby were rescued from a car after it car became stuck following flash floods in nearby Scarborough. Another woman called police from her car in the town after the water reached up to the windows. The nearby village of Cayton was under three-and-a-half feet of water at one point, and the only way to enter was by boat.

Copyright 2002 by Weatheronline and AFP