HOMES and businesses were besieged by torrents of water after a sudden downpour hit Ilminster.

Emergency services and the Environment Agency rushed to the Ditton Street area on Sunday after calls from the public reporting flood water both in the street and inside their properties.

The flash floods blocked the road outside the Ditton Street petrol station for a stretch of approximately 60 metres.

Eddie Donnelly is the owner of E&S Computers, one of the businesses worst hit by the flash flood.

He said: “We first found out when we were contacted on Facebook and by phone calls. By the time I got here, the fire brigade was already here.

“We have had to rip up the carpet and it has got into the serving area. I have still got to assess the full damage.

“There is stuff here that needs to get done so I have had to cancel all my appointments.

“It is a case of trying to get things done here first.

“I have lost business that way.

“It has been a slight hindrance, but business will be running as normal. Customers’ stuff has all been kept completely safe and people can still come in and see us if they need to.”

This isn’t the first time Mr Donnelly has seen rainwater get inside his shop since he moved into the premises in November 2012.

He added: “I got flooded out 12 days after opening, but that was after 24 hours of constant rain. This was 10 minutes of downpour and that was it.

“The so-called flood-proof front door hasn’t worked. It is just so daunting.”

Kerry Scriven, a Ditton Street resident, said: “I realised when someone came down the road knocking on doors to make them aware.

“We quickly got towels and a waterproof sheet down under the door and so no damage was done to our house. Unfortunately, some of our neighbours were not so lucky.

“I have lived here for three and a half years, I’ve seen a few floods in that time but that was certainly the worst and the quickest.”

“I know a few of the neighbours were talking about county council having come out to clear drains recently, but they left having not done them because they didn’t have the right equipment.”

Nick Hawksley, who lives in Thickthorn near Ilminster, was monitoring the weather on Sunday when he saw rain levels shoot from zero to around 127mm per hour.

He said: “In 10 years I have not seen a rain-rate that high. The amount that fell here was eight millimetres, but the rate at which it came down was massive.”

Ilminster resident Jim Sainsbury was monitoring rainfall nearer the town centre, where the rate was even higher.

He said: “Our weather sensor showed we had 25mm of rain in the hour, but the peak rate it fell at was 250mm per hour. It is just a good job it didn’t keep going for an hour.

“Last week when we had a storm, the maximum rate was 12mm per hour, whereas (Sunday) was registered at 259, suggesting an inch of rain fell in about 10 minutes.”

A spokesman for the fire service said: “The initial call received was reporting flood water entering the property from the road outside and then we received further calls for external and internal flooding.

“Crews assisted with flooding involving approximately 60 metres of roadway and several properties. A pump and dry vac were used in water removal and assistance given to occupiers.”

A Somerset County Council spokesman said: “We’re always very sorry to hear about flooding particularly when it involves people’s homes.

“This area has a history of flooding caused by the limited capacity of the culverted watercourse, rather than the highway drainage.

“We’ve checked the highway drainage following this latest incident and it is clear and operating as expected.

“Further investigation is required from our flooding team alongside partners such as the Environment Agency and we’d ask residents affected to contact us via somerset.gov.uk/floodrisk so we can find out more.”