A TERRIFIED town was turned into an icy hell yesterday — cut off by 6ft drifts of HAILSTONES as streets became freezing rivers.
Helicopters and boats helped rescue more than 150 people after a gigantic freak blizzard.
It dumped a FOOT of hail on the Devon town and surrounding villages overnight. By 4am, bitterly cold winds had swept the stones into huge ice banks, trapping cars up to their roofs in Ottery St Mary.
But worse was to follow — as the storm was followed by torrential rain. The water had nowhere to go because drains were blocked by ice.
Horrified Sarah Galliford said: “It was a total freak of nature — I thought it was the end of the world. There was a river of ice coming down the street. People were running for their lives.”
Drivers and passengers who took refuge on car roofs as floodwater 5ft deep poured in were among those rescued. A fire engine racing to the town — population 7,000 — was among vehicles stuck in drifts.
Helicopters and boats helped rescue more than 150 people after a gigantic freak blizzard.
It dumped a FOOT of hail on the Devon town and surrounding villages overnight. By 4am, bitterly cold winds had swept the stones into huge ice banks, trapping cars up to their roofs in Ottery St Mary.
But worse was to follow — as the storm was followed by torrential rain. The water had nowhere to go because drains were blocked by ice.
Horrified Sarah Galliford said: “It was a total freak of nature — I thought it was the end of the world. There was a river of ice coming down the street. People were running for their lives.”
Drivers and passengers who took refuge on car roofs as floodwater 5ft deep poured in were among those rescued. A fire engine racing to the town — population 7,000 — was among vehicles stuck in drifts.
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