A violent storm battered Macclesfield causing severe flooding and transport chaos.
The town and surrounding villages was suddenly plunged into darkness around 6pm when dark clouds rolled in and dumped vast volumes of rainfall in just one hour.
Roads were flooded causing huge problems for commuters trying to get home. One of the hardest hit was Pexhill Road near Broken Cross.
Northern Rail was forced to put on coaches in lieu of trains between Macclesfield and Stockport.
Firefighters were called to dozens of reports of flooding in just 90 minutes at the height of the storm.
They attended McDonald’s on Hulley Road just before midnight after the ceiling collapsed and two women were treated for injuries.
Jessica Palmer, 24, witnessed the damage.
She said: “I was in the drive-thru and heard a massive crash and a scream. There was a mass of rubble and a wooden beam with a metal edge laying across the seating area. Water was pouring down and there were wires hanging down. There were a group of girls, aged 18 to 21, sat beneath the collapsed part. One of them suffered a head injury. She was evidently in shock and was wondering around. Some men in the car park raced in to help and called the girl an ambulance as a precaution.”
Macclesfield library is closed today due to damage from overnight flooding.
Meanwhile Vets4Pets in Macclesfield suffered water damage and has been closed today and its phone lines are down.
There are also reports of a dead dog near the Gas Road underpass this morning.
The animal is believed to be a Staffordshire bull terrier or similar.
Ben Marshall reported the grim discovery to Environmental Health officers this morning on the way to work.
He said: “It’s really sad. It looks like it has been swept away by the flooding.”
Macclesfield Town FC’s league match against Wrexham had to be called off as the pitch inside the Moss Rose stadium was flooded.
Richard Hudson’s son Noah was due to start his job as a ballboy at the Macclesfield Town game last night.
He said: “Ironically the match had to be cancelled due to flooding. I’ll get him started on woodwork lessons.”
Residents commented on the storm via Twitter.
PaleoIllustrata said: “Wow, immense storm still going on overhead near Macclesfield. Lightning strikes every few seconds, constant thunder and lots of rain.”
OlivialovesNate said: “Just got stranded in Macclesfield. Water above the car wheels.”
Nathanael Cockburn said: “Macclesfield is experiencing rain of biblical proportions... fortunately, I have a couple of cheeky monkeys to secure my seat on the ark.”
Eleni Kettles said: “Scary weather here in #Macclesfield #Cheshire #thunder #lightning torrential #rain it’s so loud! Hot weather = #thunderstorm.”
