Car pulled out of 'knee height' flood water in Fordingbridge

There's a warning from emergency crews to be cautious in standing water

Author: Faye TryhornPublished 9th Jan 2023

A car's had to be rescued from flood waters reaching up to 'knee height' on the A338 at Fordingbridge.

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service and police officers were called out yesterday morning (Sunday 8th January) before sunrise, to help a stranded driver.

A passing 4x4 vehicle came to their assistance, by towing the vehicle and its occupants to safety.

The vehicle has suffered a large amount of internal damage, after water got in, as well as unknown mechanical damage.

Firefighters were called out early on Sunday morning (8th January) to help get the car and its occupants to safety

Further incident on site

While emergency crews were on the scene of the incident, there could have potentially been further problems, due to drivers not travelling according to the weather conditions.

Firefighters were in the flood waters at the scene, with multiple blue light vehicles around, but another can drove straight towards them, at what police have described as 'inappropriate speed'.

That caused some water spray affecting the crew's work, and needed police to challenge the driver's behaviour to protect their colleagues.

Advice to others

With more heavy rain forecast over the coming days, the advice from Hampshire Police and the county's Fire Service is to 'always respect the power of nature'.

They've called on drivers not to 'overestimate' their abilities.

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