Floods trap hundreds of British Hundreds of thousands without power, drinking water

Tewkesbury, England | Emergency workers rescued hundreds of trapped people Monday as water swallowed swaths of central England in the worst flooding to hit the country in 60 years. Officials said some rivers were still rising, with the western section of the rain-swollen River Thames on the verge of bursting its banks.

Roads and parking lots were submerged, trains suspended, buses canceled. Hundreds of thousands of people were without electricity or drinking water, and farmers saw their summer crops destroyed.

Torrential rains have plagued Britain over the past month - nearly 5 inches fell in some areas on Friday alone - and more downpours were predicted this week.

"This emergency is far from over and further flooding is extremely likely," Environment Secretary Hilary Benn told lawmakers in the House of Commons.

Late Monday, waters peaked on the swollen River Severn, which had flooded parts of the city of Gloucester and nearby areas of west-central England.

"If it goes up another couple of inches, Gloucester is in trouble, but it seems to have peaked. … We're winning," said Environment Agency spokesman Adrian Westwood.

On the outskirts of Oxford, 60 miles west of London, about 50 elderly people were evacuated to a stadium from a retirement community overlooking the swollen River Ock. "People look at me and say I look fine, but inside I'm all churned up," said Sylvia Williams, a 69-year-old widow among the evacuees.

The stadium was stocked with blankets, food and bedding for up to 1,500 people in case the Thames burst its banks. Flood defenses in the center of the town - home to the renowned 800-year-old university - were holding so far, but Thames water levels were not expected to peak until midnight.

The worst-hit areas Monday were farther west, where cars were submerged and streets turned into canals. Thousands of people were forced to leave their homes and businesses, as rescue workers in helicopters and dinghies scooped stranded residents onto dry land.

The Ministry of Defense said military helicopters rescued more than 120 people from the rising floodwaters, including 87 trapped in a trailer park in Gloucestershire county.

Among the hardest hit areas was the medieval market town of Tewkesbury, 110 miles northwest of London, where the cathedral and a few blocks of nearby houses stood like an atoll in a vast stretch of muddy water that stood 5 feet deep in places.

"It was just devastation - total chaos, cars floating past, rubbish, all kinds," said John King, a 68-year-old retired firefighter from Tewkesbury.

London, protected by the world's largest moveable flood defense, was not affected.