‘Pieces of furniture were floating. It was horrendous.’ – A dog paw on a upstair windowsill with rescuers below show how an East Devon man and his pet were plucked to safety from their flooded home amid storm Chandra.
A flood-hit resident has spoken about his dramatic early morning bedroom-window rescue by emergencyservices after the ground floor of his Newton Poppleford home became engulfed by flood water, writes local democracy reporter Bradley Gerrard.
Andy Matthews said he was awoken by his home alarm going off, something he stated was usually triggered during power cuts.
But when he descended his stairs to investigate, he soon realised the ground floor of his East Devon home had been subsumed in flood water.
The water level in Andy’s kitchen was almost level with the worktops.
Photo: Andy Matthews.
Furniture and possessions were floating in the floodwater in Andy’s home.
Photo: Andy Matthews.
“The bottom three steps were covered in water, so it was probably about a metre deep,” he said.
“I waded through it and the top of the washing machine was under water. The power had tripped as the sockets had got wet, and then when I walked through the house, pieces of furniture were floating.
“It was horrendous.”
When upstairs again, his dog Loki was barking at the window. Upon investigation, Mr Matthews realised help had arrived.
Andy and his dog, Loki, were plucked to safety through the bedroom window.
Photo: Andy Matthews.
“I looked out the window and the mountain rescue team were there with all their ropes,” he said.
“They shouted up to ask if I was okay, and I said I was fine, but they informed me that the police wanted me to vacate the property.
“They put a ladder up and they carried my dog down and then I went down and waded through the garden, over the wall, and on to the road where the police and rescue team were waiting, and a neighbour offered to take me in and make me a cup of tea and dry out a bit.
“Now I’m at my ex-wife’s house having some tea with her.”
When Andy came downstairs, he found the ground floor of his home he found floodwater up to the third step of the staircase..
Photo: Andy Matthews.
Mr Matthews added that even though he had been able to pack some essential belongings before being rescued, the likes of shoes and coats were all downstairs and so entirely soaked by the floodwater.
“I haven’t got any shoes,” he said, “so I’ve had to walk round in socks.”
However, he said neighbours were pulling together to find him items he needed.
He added that he believed the flood water was now receding, as he had drawn a line on his radiator about three-quarters of the way up where the flood water had reached, and he estimated it had dropped around three inches since then.
“My van is under water as well,” he added.
Andy Matthews and his dog had to be rescued from an upstair window amid rising floodwater around his Newton Poppleford home. Pictured here is his van at the rear of his property.
Photo: Andy Matthews.
But Mr Matthews presented a stoic attitude to the distressing events.
“There’s no point moping about it, as it’s done,” he said. “There’s nothing that I could have done to stop it and it’s only material things.
“There’s going to be a big clear-up afterwards, and I don’t know how long the electrics will take to dry out but things can only get better.”
Mr Matthews said he had gone to bed at around half-past midnight having looked at the level of the river behind his house.
He said the water level was high, but hadn’t yet come into the field which separates the river from his home.
“I’ve lived in the house for six years and it hasn’t flooded in the time I’ve been there although it has previously,” he said.
“I went out last night and checked the river level, and it was high, but not in the field.
“It has been in the field plenty of times with no issues, and so I went to bed but then got woken by the house alarm at 6am.”
It’s understood from initial reports that some other homes in Newton Poppleford that were flooded in 2023 appear to have escaped the flood water this time.
However, other communities have been hit and river levels have been reported as incredibly swollen. Reports of the Culm, Sid and Otter rivers suggest all-time high levels have been reached.
Devon and Cornwall Police and other agencies, such as councils, urged people not to travel unless it was absolutely essential until roads were passable and encouraged people not to enter water.
