Flash flooding affecting parts of Oxfordshire with schools closed
A month’s rainfall’s been seen in 36 hours since the weekend
Amber warning for rain is in place until nine o’clock tonight after flash flooding has been affecting parts of Oxfordshire.
Oxfordshire County Council say, “Since the early hours of Sunday, we have had a month’s rainfall in 36 hours.
“We ask people to drive with exceptional care for their own safety and that of other road users.
“Gulley cleaning machines are and will be operating to seek to mitigate problems however heavy rain is forecast to continue throughout today, so the sheer volume of floodwater is not having a chance to drain away naturally.
“People are reminded of the hazards of driving in to floodwater and the risk of creating bow-waves that run into adjacent properties when this occurs.”
‘It’s up to our knees’
Residents of Cromwell Avenue in Thame say they were forced to put their bins and cones out in the middle of the road to prevent the wash of waves seeping into their garden.
Maggie Richards lives on the road and has seen water flood her front and back garden, with water even reaching inside of the garage.
Ms Richards said: “We’ve got some sandbags and put them along the garage just to stop the water going in there.
“And then, we managed to divert the water into our drains on our property, but it’s got up to our knees”.
It was a community effort as neighbours were offering tea and biscuits to Maggie, and helped place sandbags to the side of the property to prevent any further water damage.
Schools shut
The heavy rainfall has also led to the closure of several schools across the county, with one of them including Cheney School in Headington.
Rob Pavey, Headteacher of Cheney School, said: “There’s not likely to be much long-term damage. It’s all to do with the amount of water in such as short space of time.
“That’s when we get problems such as stairwells and corridors getting very slippery. One of the toilet blocks in particular had started to back up and had to be closed.
“There was a leak in the kitchen which potentially looked like it started to go into the electrics and a couple of the buildings tripped possibly to do with the water.
“We had leaks in a number of roofs and the lower end of the school was getting up to ankle-deep”.
Mr Pavey hopes that the school will re-open again tomorrow, he said: “It’s clearing already so there is a decent chance.”
Here is a list of all schools closed today.