Homes and firms across England and Wales were flooded by up to

Homes and firms across England and Wales were flooded by up to 5ft of water yesterday after six hours of rain. Retained firefighters were called in after the Ministry of Defence said its Green Goddesses were not equipped to deal with floods.In the Cornish town of St Ives, a lifeboat rescued 18 people including a 90-year-old woman after a surge of water strong enough to lift people off their feet swept through the town centre.Retained firefighters helped to ferry people to safety.Jimmy Miller, of Falmouth Coastguard, said: “Doors were broken down by the force of the floods. The lifeboatmen were walking through the town up to their chins in water.”Roads were closed in the South-west as rivers turned into torrents, forcing drivers to abandon their cars. Devon County Council said it had run out of road flood warning signs by yesterday morning.The Environment Agency said there were 57 flood warnings in force across the South West, Midlands, East Anglia, the South Coast and Wales.One of the worst affected villages of the October 2000 floods, Yalding in Kent, faced rising water levels from the Medway, Teise and Beult rivers. Sandbags were in place to stop flooding to gardens and cottages while recreation grounds and fields were partly submerged.An Environment Agency spokeswoman said: “Our local office expect the rivers to overflow their banks and wash into gardens and fields.” But she added: “It is not expected to be like October 2000.”In that flood, some villagers had to be rescued by boat as water levels in houses rose to 4ft.Fire controllers across Britain said the strike had not affected their ability to cope.. The London Underground network was severely disrupted yesterday when 100 drivers refused to work because of safety fears caused by the firefighters’ strike. The Waterloo and City line, which takes tens of thousands of passengers into the capital’s financial heart, was suspended when drivers refused to work.There were long delays on the Piccadilly line, normally used by 650,000 passengers a day.

Ten of 64 trains were running and large parts of the line were shut. Trains were running only between Acton and Heathrow to the west. Long delays were also reported on the Northern line, normally used by 700,000 people a day.The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “My understanding is that the management of the Underground are talking to the health and safety representatives of the trade unions to try and resolve this. I think it is best that those talks take place without any intervention from us, which could escalate things.”Twenty-two stations were fully or partly closed by London Underground They will reopen at 6pm today when the strike ends. Lifts were shut as a precaution.The rail unions had said that they would support any members who refused to work because of fears for their own and passengers’ safety.Bob Crow, general secretary of the Rail Maritime and Transport union, said his members had reported for work for London Underground. But he said they had the right and responsibility not to undertake duties that put themselves and others in danger. “If LU victimises any of our members for exercising their legal right, we will immediately ballot for industrial action,” he said..

Hoaxes and bad weather continued to dog military crews as they answered emergency calls yesterday and the death toll rose to four. Military personnel answered 1,279 incidents in the first 20 hours of the dispute. After they rescued the man, four Green Goddesses put out the fire.Sixty people were evacuated from the neighbouring Smithfield Project, an alcohol and drug rehabilitation centre.Major Gary Candlish, from the King’s Regiment, said: “It is what the fire brigade would call a controlled burn. The risk we have now is of the building collapsing.”Station officer Mick Collins said: “At the end of the day, we’re human beings.