People living in the roads hit hardest by last night’s flooding are counting the cost, with some admitting: “We don’t know where we’re staying tonight.”

Cars were seen floating down streets in Dover as the roads quickly became rivers amid the intense thunderstorm which battered the county yesterday.

As many homes across the county escaped the deluge and residents watched the spectacular lightning display, some in the east Kent town saw water almost rise to the ceiling and severely damage their properties.

It came after Met Office forecasters escalated a yellow warning issued earlier in the week to an amber alert, warning of potential flooding as the storm swept across from the Channel.

The district council says 21 people are now in temporary accommodation in a hotel, while other residents we spoke to in the town say their homes are now “unliveable”.

KentOnline visited East Street in the town today – one of the worst hit by last night’s downpour.

Megan Barrett and her partner said they need temporary accommodation tonight after water swept into their bedroom in the basement of the property.

“We don’t know where we’re staying tonight,” the 34-year-old said.

“The wall has come away where the door is and the electricity isn’t working. It is unliveable.”

She says she was “enjoying the storm” and watching it through the window before disaster struck.

“I was lying in bed and water started coming through the door,” she said.

“It was up to the window and started filling up.

“We grabbed the necessities and the dog, and ran upstairs.

“It gushed through the door and the window.

“My fridge tipped over and was floating around the kitchen.”

Sam Tenberton says the sheer amount of water shattered the glass on his basement door, which led to the deluge gushing in and flooding the entire bottom floor.

“The whole kitchen and living room have been flooded,” the 39-year-old said.

“You can see it came up about five feet and almost touched the ceiling.

“A whole kitchen and living room's worth of stuff needs replacing.

“There were cars floating around outside.”

Darren Paskell said he’d just had a new sofa delivered and had gone to bed at about 10pm.

“My step-son phoned us from his bedroom asking if we’d seen the rain outside,” the 50-year-old said.

“There were literally cars floating down the road.

“We went downstairs to get a better look and that’s when we realised the bottom floor was totally and utterly flooded.”

He says he saw a vacuum cleaner floating around the room as the water continued to rise more than a metre high.

The new sofa had been thrown outside this morning, as well as a hoard of other drenched items.

Another resident said the water was about a metre high in his house and gushed through, covering the bottom floor.

“It is soaked all the way through,” he said as he worked to clear his home while chucking away water-damaged items.

“I’m in the process of mopping up. Water damage is one of the worst you can get.

“The flooring and carpets need replacing.

“I was in my bedroom last night and I didn’t realise how high the water was until it started coming through the door.”

A nearby shopkeeper says they had to open later as they worked to clear the floors and get the water out of the store.

They could be seen armed with mops this morning, but the shop remained open despite the damage caused.

“The stock is waterlogged,” they said.

“Most of it is plastic, so it’s okay but there is obviously cardboard.

“We have been mopping and cleaning, making sure everything is okay.”

Elsewhere, Rob Hancox was sitting in his living room with his wife and two dogs when water started coming into his basement flat in Castle Street from the road above.

“There is a bolt at the bottom of the front door and the water blew it off,” he said.

As the property flooded, he opened the back door in a bid to get control of the torrents of rainfall pouring into the home.

“We are going to get everything out into the garden today so we can start the drying out process and get the door repaired,” he added.

“We have sorted out a little caravan to stay in tonight.

“My partner works at a hotel and they have sorted us a lodge until we can get sorted.

“It just happened so fast. We were sitting on the sofa and in five minutes I was under water there.”

The fire service said it had been called to several incidents in east Kent, including flooded homes in Dover, alongside volunteers and partner agencies.

Crews have worked to clear the properties of water and provided assistance and support to affected residents.

The service is urging people whose homes are flooding, or who need rescuing, and there is a risk to life, to call 999 and ask for "fire".

In a statement, Dover District Council (DDC) said the authority had been “working tirelessly” through the night to manage the severe disruption and subsequent flooding.

It said it has opened a rest centre and rehoused 21 people into temporary accommodation.

A spokesman said: “We are aware the flooding has resulted in significant disruption to local infrastructure, including the movement and displacement of several vehicles that were originally parked in legitimate parking bays.”

Meanwhile, a man fined by parking wardens after moving his flood-damaged car to safety branded the local council “very disrespectful”.

Elvis Gura waded through the knee-high water in a desperate attempt to move his vehicle to a place of safety.

The 29-year-old managed to move his car to a safer place, away from the heavily flooded section of East Street, on double-yellow lines outside his home.

Having had very little sleep after going to bed at 4am, he awoke to find a DDC parking warden had slapped him with a £70 fine.

Other residents took to social media in disgust after spotting the wardens targeting flood-hit areas of the town.

The DDC statement added: “Unfortunately, due to the extent of the water damage and vehicle drift, some of these vehicles may now appear to be abandoned or incorrectly parked, and may have inadvertently been issued with Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs).

“We understand the distress and inconvenience this may cause to affected residents, visitors, and port users. DDC would like to reassure the public that no enforcement action will be taken against anyone unfairly penalised as a direct result of the flooding.

“If you believe your vehicle was impacted by the flood and you have received a PCN as a result, we encourage you to contact the council’s parking services team from Monday morning onwards. Each case will be reviewed individually with fairness and understanding, taking into account the extraordinary circumstances.

“Our teams continue to assess the situation and prioritise public safety, clean-up operations, and recovery efforts across the affected areas.

“We thank everyone for your patience, cooperation, and resilience as we work together to restore normality as quickly and safely as possible.”

The A256 in Tilmanstone, near Dover, was closed by police as one driver was seen sitting on the roof of his car after getting stuck in flood water.

In nearby York Street, water was seen rushing down steps next to Lancaster House, destroying a brick wall.

In Margate, Dreamland announced it would be closed today due to the “heavy rain” from last night’s storm.

A spokesperson said: “We know that many of you have been affected too, and we hope you are all safe and well.

“The team at Dreamland are all hands-on-deck making everything shipshape again, but we are unfortunately not able to open the park today.

“Tonight’s Rewind On Sea event will be going ahead as planned, and we look forward to seeing ticket holders later on today.”

The amusement park is expected to reopen tomorrow (Sunday).

Thanet District Council has also advised visitors against bathing and entering the sea after it was confirmed there was a discharge of stormwater overnight due to the heavy rain.

Signs are in place at the 14 affected beaches from West Bay in Westgate-on-Sea to Western Undercliff in Ramsgate.

Authority bosses say further inspections are due to take place.

In another part of Kent, a semi-detached bungalow was struck by lightning in Trevor Drive, Allington, leaving residents without power.

Homeowner Jeanette Sayer said: “I was aware the storm was coming. I saw the lightning flashing about 10pm, and I could hear the thunder.

“I thought it did not sound good when all of a sudden I heard this huge almighty bang, which shook everything.

“When I opened the door, there was just thick, black smoke. The whole wall was black. It is devastating.

“It was like being in a war zone. I do not know what would have happened if my daughter or I were in that room. It does not bear thinking about.

“I am just in total shock. We are incredibly lucky no one was hurt.”

The 54-year-old called the fire brigade, and two crews attended the scene.

She was told it is likely the lightning struck the chimney.

Additional reporting by Abigail Hook