Flood diary: "Message from the Island"

Aerial shot of floods at Tewkesbury

Simon Walden is a photographer who lives with his family in the Gloucestershire town of Tewkesbury, which lies at the confluence of the Rivers Severn and Avon.

The following are excerpts from a diary he's been keeping, detailing his experiences of living through the floods there. He begins with a tough drive home.

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FRIDAY 20TH JULY

6PM

I've been on the road home to Tewkesbury from Kidderminster (about 30 miles) for two hours.

8PM

I've made it to Evesham, which is completely surrounded by floodwaters. The road from Evesham to Pershore has collapsed into a 12-foot hole where a drain has collapsed.

10PM

I push on. I'm told they're stopping all traffic at the truckers cafe, about a mile down the main road. Decide to try my luck on the smaller roads.

I set off, never managing to do more than 10 miles an hour. I figure as I long as I can see the road verges above the water, I'm OK.

Finally make it to the outskirts of Tewkesbury, but can't do the final 300 yards to get home. Abandon the car. Try to get across on foot.

About halfway over, I begin to think this might not have been sensible. As long as I can grip a fence, wall or lamppost and - crucially - not lift my feet off the ground I am OK. As soon as I'd start lifting a foot, the water starts pushing it up and you know you would go over.

His whole vehicle is lifted up and swings across the road with a loud crunch - that's probably what saves him Simon Walden Send us your comments

Of course, some idiot in a 4x4 tries to cross. He gets to where the other cars are already submerged and his whole vehicle is lifted up and swings across the road with a loud crunch - that's probably what saves him, as it pushes his wheels up onto the high verge, where they can get some purchase. He's just able to get through to the other side.

I realise I've done something more stupid than I should have.

Once over, it's a quick walk home.

12 MIDNIGHT

We go back out to where I had crossed earlier, the water is much deeper and faster. There's some fellow standing next to one of the submerged cars. He just isn't going to leave it.

SATURDAY 21ST JULY

2AM

Helicopters have been coming over for some time but now one takes up a hover over the house. My son, Sam, and I go out and follow the searchlights down.

Helicopters were sent to various parts of the country

They are pointed at where I crossed and the fellow was by his car. The wall of the bridge has collapsed. A surge of water has pushed all the flooded cars across to the side, and the chap has gone.

We go to bed. We think we're safe - the house is still four foot above water level.

7AM

Flood waters much higher - only a couple of feet from the house now. A boat moored on the Avon behind the house has sunk overnight - there's just an aerial sticking out of the water. Go into town and spend an hour standing in Tesco's to buy some bread and milk.

All the old folk are saying it's never been like this before. Simon Walden Floods at a glance

All the old folk are saying it's never been like this before.

By the time we get home we feel reasonably certain that this is the worst of it.

6PM

It's getting worse. The rumour is that three people have been drowned and pulled out of the water across the field from us.

8PM

A fire engine is parked outside the house and we're giving them coffees.

At this point we're told that this is the last chance if we want to evacuate, after that it'll will be boat or helicopter only, and only if it is an emergency.

10PM

Fire rescue boats have pulled all the people and dogs off the boats. We're being told to expect a surge as the high tide meets the incoming waters (Tewkesbury is just on the edge of the tidal flow of the Severn).

SUNDAY 22ND JULY

2AM, 4AM, 6AM

Get up at two-hourly intervals to check the water level. It is still rising and we've got about six inches safety margin before the garage gets it.

8AM

These cars in Tewkesbury were almost submerged

Bleary eyed and beleaguered. Water everywhere lapping under the wheels of the cars. We help to move an old Bentley a bit further up out of the water. The sun is shining and it's almost pleasant except for the water level, which is still inching closer.

There are helicopters galore - some TV news, some rescue. You see our house on the telly all the time - we are a little island right across the water from the Mithe water treatment plant, which has been flooded and is closing down.

12 NOON

Sam and I go into town. It's very quiet, no cars at all. All the shops are closed except for M&S. No bread, milk or water of course.

We help at the abbey, which is flooding. Cart a ton of sandbags to the great oak doors and move all the chairs (no pews, thank goodness) up to high ground. The vicar tells us we've earned our place in heaven!

10PM

The vicar tells us we've earned our place in heaven! Simon Walden

Water level hasn't changed all day. Still got six to eight inches leeway. Getting very bored with it all. "Floodline" talks about another 12 inches expected over the Mithe gate, but of course no way to translate that into flood levels near us.

Decide too tired now to care. Slogging through water, humping sandbags and furniture takes it out of you.

MONDAY 23RD JULY

8AM

Water level still hasn't changed. Water bottles are delivered to the bridge, and some wading and carting means the whole of our residential court has some fresh water.

Still no news about three people being drowned on Saturday - it looks like that particular rumour wasn't true.

4PM

At the moment we're still being told we could lose power and phones at any moment.

Phone has been ringing all day. Thanks to all of you who phoned for your offers of beds, generators, help cleaning up ... Greatly appreciated. We're still keeping our fingers crossed that we won't need them.

We're out of bread, baked beans and low on milk. There's no way of knowing how long we might need to make the food last.

6PM

We've been round the town centre. It's very sad to see the shops and houses flooded out.

Outside one of the pubs there is an impromptu folk band playing, and very good they are too. From our side of the floods we can see the Media Circus - a couple of gazebos at the other end of the flood water.

I chat to a farmer who has been running a water ferry service on his tractor out to the village beyond us. He says he has also been taking scoops of water on his JCB to water his cattle.

7PM

The Mithe waterworks has just started pumping water and great plumes of water are spraying out of the sandbagged treatment centre. We're back in wellies to go to The Roses Theatre which is showing free films tonight - it was Mr. Bean during the day and The Painted Veil tonight.

10PM

The water has actually dropped a couple of inches, but we're getting mixed reports on whether it's going to continue down or rise again. Don't know what we're supposed to do.

One of the things we've found is the information services are useless. The Environment Agency website tells us nothing useful at all - in fact it has been unavailable most of the time.

TV news likes to talk it up ... but words like "pandemonium" are just nonsense. Simon Walden

TV news likes to talk it up - and to be fair some parts are very badly hit and very depressing, but words like "pandemonium" are just nonsense. People here are very calm and chatty - swapping gossip, news and bits of encouragement. We find people taking food round to elderly neighbours, others helping with sandbags and all sorts.

Also, while at a strategic level there may be issues, our individual service teams - be they police, fire or whatever - have all been working like Trojans.

The guys I think are the real unsung heroes have been the sandbag crew. Every time I see the lorry it's always the same two chaps dropping sandbags off and they've been at it all weekend. There's many a home that owes them a big thanks.

The news service just say there are "fears of further rises." Why can't we get a flood expert in to say we expect more here, less there etc?

Biggest disaster turns out not to be the water, but the fact that I can't program the video recorder! I set it to record the special news with our neighbours being interviewed. Turns out I forgot to turn it on.

The tap water has now given up the ghost. Fortunately we still have heat and power. So tonight we're off to bed to the sound of the waterworks pumps humming away loudly across the waters.

TUESDAY 24TH JULY

6AM

Can't sleep, so I wander into town. It's the same police officers on duty at the bridge, poor souls look exhausted, they turn down the offer of a cuppa as their relief is about to arrive.

9AM

Time to set off to the car, Ingrid needs to get medicines and I'm keen to get to check my photo studio. I've been carefully not thinking about what might have happened.

Simon took this picture of the waters he had to wade through.

The footbridge we had been aiming for is unreachable - floodwaters cover the path leading to it - so now we have to take the long route - about 4 miles. As luck would have it we meet up with a reporter and camera man who offer us a lift in return for an interview - deal!

Another wade back through the waters where, quite bizarrely, some Japanese tourists give me a round of applause as I reach dry land. Then a small child says, "Is that a dead baby your carrying?" - its actually my spare trousers, but quite chilling when you think about it.

It seems quite surreal driving on the motorway - inside Tewkesbury has been so quiet - no cars or noise just people on foot or bicycle, it seems like a different world to be in the busy traffic.

2PM

When I arrive at Cheltenham I find myself stuck in another traffic jam - it feels desperately like Friday night. It turns out it's the queue for the water distribution point.

4PM

Finally head off home, we're going to try and come into Tewkesbury by the Mythe treatment plant that is flooded, we're hoping the road will be dry enough by now. But the road is blocked because of all the pumping equipment there. We are greeted by one bright red fire truck after another, all lining the road. These are the pump wagons.

At the end of our street a submerged car still sits in the lake. Getting back to the house really starts to bring home what's going to come next. This part of the world is going to be distinctly smelly for a few days.

I saw a chap this morning sitting on his doorstep looking very down - he'd only had a couple of inches of water in - but that's all it takes to completely ruin a home.

WEDNESDAY 25TH JULY

11AM

Portaloos arrive at studio and we can keep up and running, so many places closed down because they have no sanitation. I can see Severn Trent Water and Army water carriers everywhere. There may be people not getting water, but there's a lot of it being transported around.

7PM

At a friend's house for a shower and shave, so lovely to be properly clean. The sneaky way into Tewkesbury through some obscure back roads is now open, so I manage to get all the way home in the car.

THURSDAY 26TH JULY

7AM

Up bright and early to prepare for today's wedding, the forecast isn't good.

10AM

At the hotel, everybody is in good cheer, not least because the hotel has managed to provide some limited showers.

Chatting to the staff they are all completely whacked. They were helping out refugees and stuck travellers and have been pulling up water from their well to fill cold water tanks in the hotel.

It's raining heavily but we're all confident it will have stopped by the time we have to go to church.

1PM

At the church it's coming down in buckets and also very windy.

Simon Walden: despite the wind and rain, everyone is smiling.

All the brollies are being blown inside out and everybody is getting soaked. Despite all that, everyone is smiling.

Somehow a bit of rain seems such a trivial thing compared to what we've had.

On the way from the church to the hotel I'm pulled over at a police checkpoint and I think "Oops what have I done?" but a burly officer just pulls open the passenger door and drops in six bottles of drinking water.

11PM

Finally done for the day. The newly-weds have been so happy, the rain could have been a disaster but instead it added so much fun and made the day very memorable.