Staff rallied together to reopen a garden centre after it was devastated by an “unbelievable” flood.

Elm Court Garden Centre has reopened today following the torrential downpours yesterday, which saw rain water pour into the store, soaking both customers and staff.

The centre, in Capstone Road, Gillingham, was evacuated after the water started coming through the roof, filling multiple buckets and covering the floor.

The “20 minutes of chaos” was captured on video.

And thanks to the “fantastic work” of staff at the shop, the popular garden centre was able to re-open at its usual time today.

Store manager, Hope Harden, told KentOnline she was in a state of “shock” seeing the water pour through the centre.

“I didn't have time to think and just got into action to make sure customers were safe,” she said.

“I was in shock yesterday.

“Myself and other colleagues came into the store a couple of hours early today and were able to rebuild and make sure the shop was safe.

“Luckily, by the time of opening all of the water had dried up.”

A post on social media from the team said: “Twenty minutes of unbelievable chaos, both staff and customers were dumbstruck with the event.

“One staff member who has worked at the garden centre for over 20 years said she certainly has not seen anything like this event before.”

Despite the large amount of water in the store, Ms Harden says staff managed to save a lot of the stock.

She added: “We lost a bit of stock to the damage, but it wasn't huge.

“The team were so fantastic at capturing the water yesterday and we managed to save a lot of it.”

A yellow weather warning was issued yesterday, with heavy rain and thunderstorms predicted.

Twenty fire engines were called to reports of a number of flooded properties in Chatham, Gillingham and Snodland.

The fire service attended the affected areas, including Walderslade Road, Nelson Terrace, Mckenzie Road, Hopewell Drive, Sundridge Drive, Beechmore Drive and Gorse Avenue in Chatham.

They also went to Recreation Avenue in Snodland and Wheatcroft Grove, Bond Road and Brackwood Close in Gillingham, where crews used specialist equipment to clear flood water.

There were also reports of parts of the A20 near West Malling flooded too.