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Cloud burst floods stores
A torrential downpour flooded shops in Truro on Friday causing tens of thousand of pounds worth of damage.
The cascade of water poured through the ETS Electrical store on King Street ruining carpets and destroying high quality electrical equipment.
Next door, TopShop staff were forced to evacuate customers and shut the doors while they waited for the downpour to subside.
The businesses were inundated with water after drains and gutters on nearby roofs struggled to cope with a 45-minute cloud burst.
RTS Electrical store manager Simon Wilcock said: "We had a huge thunderstorm and they just could not cope.
"It poured onto a flat roof and then came in under the seals and into the shop."
The business lost approximately £20,000 of equipment in one demonstration suite alone, alongside an array of other expensive equipment.
The most expensive items destroyed were a set of five home cinema speakers worth £5,000 and three televisions worth over £2,000.
"We were closed on Friday and we could not open on Saturday or Sunday'" said Mr Wilcock.
"We opened about a quarter of the store on Monday and we are now working with about 30 percent of the normal floor area."
"It is quite a mess," he added.
The flood also tripped the store's electrical supply setting off alarms and stopping the electric shutters that close the shop from working.
Luckily everything was covered by insurance and the company has already had the loss adjusters in to assess the damage.
The store is open and trading again, although two thirds of the store is still out of bounds with the ceiling down in places and the carpets torn up in others.
Industrial dehumidifiers have been brought in to try and dry out what remains.
Despite the widespread damage Mr Wilcock expects to be open again completely in about 8 weeks and will keep on trading throughout the repair work.
TopShop next door to ETS was also affected and staff were forced to evacuate the shop and close the doors however they did not suffer any damage and were able to open again the next day.
Shop manager, Dean Vincent said: "It was a 45 minute flash flood and although I was not in the shop I have heard it was crazy."
9:18pm Tuesday 20th May 2008
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