Homes and offices have been flooded,residents evacuated from houses and tens of thousands of pounds of damage has been reported after two tidal surges hit the district.

Sandwich, which was last night deemed at serious risk by the Environment Agency, saw the rapidly rising water peak at the Quay at 2pm this morning. The flood barrier was breached at Gazen Salts at 12.47am, spilling over the nature reserve and on to Richborough Road, Ash Road and Strand Street.

Part of the Secret Gardens of Sandwich is still under water with the bottom of the garden turning into a lake.

They felt the financial damage the most, with head gardener Steve Edney reporting tens of thousands of pounds of damage to machinery and thousands of hours of hard work ruined There are floating plants and a bridge that was swept across the garden.

This morning, the Quay park is still under water as well as the usually grassy Bulwarks.

A lorry driver was rescued from his flooded cab by firefighters in Dover at 1am.

They were called to a substation to find him surrounded by water on Channel View Road.

Watch manager, Paul Mellett, said: “It was surreal.

“The crews waded through the water and carried him to safety.

“It was a freak of nature. He wasn’t to know the water was going to come in and flood, he had a bit of a surprise.”

Bench Street subway was brimming with water and is still sealed off.

The Port of Dover was shut at 1.30am following a power cut. It re-opened at 2.30pm.

Staff at the Zetland Arms in Kingsdown were up until half past one keeping an eye on the sea and making sure the sea did not seep into the Shepherd Neame pub. On Deal seafront the water came up to the sea wall, but there's no flooding at the Royal Hotel. The heap of shingle on the beach towards North Deal, part of the sea defence maintenance, has been moved on to the promenade.Residents fear Coppin Street and Farrier Street will be at high risk this afternoon.For pages of tidal surge pictures and stories, see next week's Mercury next Thursday.