Father pulls baby out of car window minutes before it becomes submerged in Calder Valley floods

A young father from Todmorden has spoken about the panic of being caught in a sinking car along with his baby son.

Andre Randles had driven into what he thought was a shallow puddle in Todmorden during heavy rainfall, only to become stranded as his vehicle began to float and water filled the car.

He managed to pull his 11-month son from the window of the Volkswagen hatchback - moments later it was almost completely submerged on Woodhouse Road, which borders the River Calder.

He said: "I hit the dip and went straight into a puddle, but then my car started floating. As soon as I saw the water coming up, literally a minute later, I thought I've got to get out of here and I need to get my son out of here so I wound down the window and climbed out and pulled him out.

"I held him above my head so he wouldn't touch the water and we got to a nearby house. The people there took us in and helped look after Luca while I called for recovery."

His girlfriend Paige Newsome said she was shocked when Andre rung her to tell her what had happened: "As soon as I realised he was being serious I just wanted them home and I didn't let Luca go all night really, I just cuddled him.

"By the time he'd got out of the car, got Luca out of the car, it was up to his chest so it just shows how fast things do happen. If they hadn't got out of that car, they wouldn't have survived and that's the scary part about it."

The couple have since learned that other cars have been caught in flood water at the same spot in the past, so they think measures should be put in place to help prevent it happening again.

"On the same road it's happened plenty of times. I found out my dad's partner was in it 24 years ago on the same road - she was pregnant at the time. And I've seen a photo of 2015 and a car in the exact same place mine is," Mr Randles said.

Earlier on Saturday, flood sirens warned of imminent flooding in the Calder Valley due to Storm Bert. Whilst the flood defences in Mytholmroyd were largely effective, some homes and businesses in the area were flooded and roads left impassible due to surface water and rapidly melting snow.

As river levels rose quickly on Saturday, local people had started to worry there could be a repeat of the severe flooding seen in 2015 and 2020. Many residents expressed relief today that there wasn't more extensive damage to properties.

Labour MP for Calder Valley Josh Fenton-Glynn said:

"It's really important that we get the flood defences properly built throughout the valley. You can see the flood defences in Mytholmroyd have had a really big impact, but we want to make sure others communities - which are still waiting for their flood defences - are safe too.

"We are at the frontline of climate shocks here in Calder Valley. Rest assured I will continue to raise the issues we face with flooding at the highest levels of government."

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