Army on flood standby

The Army was on standby today to aid mass evacuations in flood-hit parts of the country.

As parts of Essex and Cambridgeshire suffered their worst floods for 20 years, thousands prepared to leave their homes after battling to stem the rising waters with sandbags and barricades.

Cambridgeshire council officials are preparing to call in troops today after half an inch of rain fell in a second torrential downpour in 36 hours. Overnight officials moved 99 people and 28 animals to safety.

The Environment Agency, which has again been criticised for not doing enough to protect the region, said three severe flood alerts, warning of "imminent danger to life and property", the highest they can issue, remained in place on rivers around Cambridge, Braintree and Colchester.

Cambridge and villages to the south as well as Braintree were among the worst hit after heavy rain throughout Sunday led to many rivers bursting their banks. Coggeshall in Essex was under four feet of water. Police said flooding in Cambridge was the worst for 20 years and some villages to the south were cut off by rising water.

Some parts of the region were said to have been hit by a month's rain in one day yesterday - nearly 70mm fell in Braintree in six hours. Flood damage is likely to run into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The Met Office in Bracknell was predicting that up to an inch of rain could follow heavy rainfall of up to three inches over the weekend.

A spokesman warned: "We are expecting a lot of rain this week and it will be far more widespread and prolonged than over the weekend. Thunderstorms can almost certainly be expected and we would strongly advise those in high-risk flood areas to seek advice. If they are in any doubt whether they will be affected or how to prepare, they should call the floodline."

In Hertfordshire, people were preparing to evacuate their homes after the River Stort burst its banks. Families in Bishop's Stortford, were preparing to be moved from their homes after the river overflowed.

The Stort, which runs through the centre of the town, caused floods three feet deep in places, causing traffic problems and cutting off access to shops. Police were forced to close numerous roads and diverted traffic.

South Wales and the Peak District were also hit by heavy rain overnight.

Evacuation centres were set up in several areas - in Oakington, Cambs, pensioners were temporarily moved to a government centre set up to hold asylum seekers. In Chappel, near Colchester, a 27-year-old man narrowly escaped death after being swept away by floodwater. David Pickett was rescued by firemen after grabbing a branch to stop himself being dragged away by the flow after he tried to cross a bridge over the Colne yesterday.

He said: "The water was rising rapidly and took me off my feet. I managed to grab the railings on the bridge but the current was too strong and I was swept away. My boots were full of water and my jacket was waterlogged and so heavy I went completely under a couple of times. I remember being able to grab a branch and just hanging on. I thought I was going to die as the currents were so fast I couldn't have held on for much longer and would have been dragged under."

The three severe flood warnings were on the River Cam in Cambridgeshire, the rivers Colne and Roman near Colchester, Essex, and the Pant, Blackwater and Brain, near Braintree.