Passengers were left stranded after a train hit a landslide, a 95-year-old woman had to be rescued, and a hospital flooded as last night’s storm battered Croydon.

The train was travelling from Coulsdon South station when it hit the landslide which was caused by the torrential rain and high winds that battered the country last night.

Fire crews from Croydon, Purley and New Addington attended the scene at 4.40am.

A London Fire Brigade spokesman said the incident was being handled by British Transport Police.

Peter Zouganelis, crew manager of Croydon’s green watch, was part of the rescue unit that went down to the scene.

He said he was told there were more than 100 passengers on the train.

He said: “There was a bit of a landslide which the train went into. We didn’t actually do a lot down there but we assisted passengers getting onto another train.”

According to Mr Zouganelis, Croydon was on one of the worse affected boroughs by the storm and said the town’s fire crews were the busiest in London.

There was such a high volume of calls that the LFB introduced batch mobilisation which meant crews were given a batch of calls to deal with rather than responding to calls on a singular basis.

Croydon had more than 30 calls, New Addington had 25 calls, Norbury had 18 calls and Woodside had about 15 calls.

A majority of the calls were responding to floodings, fallen trees and objects in precarious positions.

Woodside firefighters attended BMI Shirley Oaks Hospital this morning after the ground floor completely flooded.

Three appliances attended and had to pump out water from the building.

No patients had to be moved as there are only a small number staying at the hospital and they are on the first floor.

Anna Snelson, one of the firefighters, said it was important to pump water away from the hospital to avoid equipment getting damaged.

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Marpit Lane railway bridge was one of the places that saw flooding (Picture: Daniel Hutchings)

A 95-year-old woman also had to be rescued from her house in Copse Avenue, near West Wickham after it flooded.

The woman had to be carried out of the building by the firefighters and taken to her daughter’s house as the water was up to her knees.

They had to sandbag the house and pump out the water.

Yesterday evening, a balcony in Tennison Road overlooking the railway started to come away and was over hanging the railway.

Woodside firefighters were called at 6.45pm last night to deal with the situation and did not get back until after 10pm.

 

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