River Adur reaches highest level in years in Upper Beeding: “It was a close call”
Storm Ciara brought heavy rain to the area on Sunday and by noon on Monday, the murky river water was beginning to encroach upon the village.
Sue Plautz, who owns Beeding Newsagency in the high street, said she had never seen the water level so high.
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Hide Ad“Apparently it has been before, but not for quite a long time. I’ve been here 25 years and I don’t remember,” she said.
She praised members of Bramber Parish Council, who came round to all the shops along the high street to provide them with sandbags, should they need them.
“There was a flood warning on the river, they supplied all the people in the high street and the other side with sandbags,” she said. “Thankfully we didn’t need them.”
However she added: “It was a close call.”
Photos taken by Sue show the river bursting its banks at some points.
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Hide Ad“The footpath on the other side, that was completely underwater,” she said.
By Tuesday afternoon there were no longer any flood warnings in place for the village.
But Sue said of the river: “It hasn’t properly gone down at all. It’s down to a respectable level, but it hasn’t gone down to normal.”
Elsewhere, the impact of Storm Ciara saw part of a balcony collapse at a Shoreham house – read more here.