Nightmare journey home for BAD tutor
Posted on July 25th, 2007
Marooned at home in the floods is one of the tutors from the Worcester learndirect centre which is provided by Business Advice Direct (BAD).
Nicky Wells left the centre at 4pm on Friday and didn’t manage to get home until Saturday afternoon after a nightmare journey during which her car floated along a road and she was soaked to the skin.
Now back at her home near Tewkesbury, Nicky is stranded without water to drink or wash, there are fears power supplies will be cut, her car won’t start and she can’t even buy a pair of wellies because local shops have run out!
Nicky, who has a one hour commute each way to work, found it impossible to get onto the motorway when she was trying to get home on Friday afternoon so she headed for the B4048 and ended up in Cropthorne.
“There was heavy rain and I found myself driving through a pool with water up
to the window,” she said. “It was really scary. The car engine cut out, all the lights came on and water seeped into the back seat footwell and the driver’s footwell before the car stalled. I bobbed through the water and the road was littered with cars. People were stopping to ask if I was ok and eventually I was pushed out by two builders. I was really upset, crying and feeling very vulnerable, as I was driving alone. I felt sheer panic and helplessness.”
On Sunday morning Nicky would discover that the Cropthorne Road had collapsed under the weight of the water but on Friday she bravely headed towards A44 and found herself in Drakes Broughton with no coat or umbrella, wearing a short-sleeved top, wet shoes and socks and desperate for the toilet.
“It was now 9.30pm and I was still driving,” said Nicky who was given a travel blanket to keep warm by a passer by who also directed her to a nearby pub.
“I decided that I would try to find it. I have never felt so anxious in all my life, I sobbed all the way to the next village,” she said. “I saw a car with two people in who were desperately trying to get out of their car, but the car was facing nose first in a ditch of water up to the main windscreen. I found the pub where I met a local lady who offered me a bed for the night as her son was stuck in Pershore.”
Nicky accepted the offer and found six other stranded commuters there as well. On Saturday morning she set off again for home and this time got onto the M5.
“The motorway was scattered with tarmac and grit from the flood and I didn’t get home at 2.30pm.,” she said. “Now I am stranded with no fresh water supply and there has been panic buying of bottled water and basics like soup, milk and bread. We had a bowser delivered last night, at the end of the street. It now feels very real now!”
Nicky has been in contact with some of the learners from the centre and discovered that some of them have still not been able to get home and are stranded in Malvern or Pershore.
Head of BAD Funded Learning Fiona Wright said: “Poor Nicky has been through a nightmare and all credit to her for making it home and still remembering to try and contact her learners! The staff at BAD amaze me all the time with their commitment to the job and to the learners and I am relieved that Nicky got home in the end and is safe and well. Hopefully it won’t be too long before Nicky’s routes to work re-open. We are keeping our fingers crossed that her car will start!”
