Two hospitals in east London are asking patients to keep away after their emergency departments were hit by the flood on Sunday.
Newham hospital requests people use other A&Es for urgent assistance, while, Whipps Cross is evacuating 100 inpatients and have no power in the building. Ambulances are also being diverted to other routes and neighbouring hospitals.
Torrential rainfall has caused severe flooding in roads, stations and homes across London. London Fire Brigade has received over 1,000 calls relating to the floods. People have needed rescuing from trapped cars, and the fire service are giving aid to those with collapsed ceilings and flooded basements.
Barts Health NHS Trust, which runs both hospitals affected, says “a major incident has been called across the Trust”. They ask patients “to attend alternative hospitals where they can”.
The flooding has already resulted in closure of a number of roads and train stations in the capital. Places affected include the A12, the Blackwall Tunnel, parts of the North Circular and Stepney Green station. Stepney is staying closed, but eight other London Overground and Tube stations are open again.
The wettest part of the country on Sunday was St James’s Park in London which had 41.6mm (1.6in) of rain.
Residents living in east London grabbed whatever they could to try and stop rising rainwater flooding their homes. People pulled together to help each other protect their houses. One of those affected, Mariya Peeva, recounts how her son went to the local shop to buy food, only to find the whole street and pavement already flooded by the time he returned. Water was entering the front door, and their neighbour’s bedroom flooded.
At the scene
The entire floor of the A&E department at Newham Hospital is wet with floodwater. Security guards are guiding people away, although the hospital will still treat those in most urgent need of care. However, they urge patients to use other hospitals while they fix the damage caused by the rainwater.
The emergency department is the worst hit part of the hospital, but other areas, like the maternity unit, remain open as they are unaffected.
Meanwhile, pictures from London show flood water in roads on Walthamstow was “above the kerb”. It was impossible for people to walk on the pavement, and one man describes water coming up to his shins as he attempted to get on a bus. “This is a canal, not a road”, he commented.
Elsewhere, a cyclist passing the area near Queenstown Road station in Battersea found the road “totally shut down”. He is a born and raised Londoner and says he has “never seen anything quite like it”. This is the worst flooding he has ever witnessed in the city, with scenes of buses standing “broken down in the water”.
Some areas of south east England still have a yellow thunderstorm warning in place. Meanwhile, the Environment Agency have issued major flood warnings for six locations, including two areas in London, one in Essex, one in Suffolk and two on the Isle of Wight. In addition, there are another 19 less severe flood alerts which cover the majority of the capital and parts of surrounding counties.
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