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Above: Collection of the best videos showing the EXTREME weather which hit Birmingham

The worst rain we’ve EVER seen.

That’s the verdict of West Midlands Firefighters who had to deal with the aftermath of the devastating storm which swept through Birmingham and the Black Country.

The brigade was inundated with more than 500 999 calls as some streets were literally awash with several feet of water on Wednesday afternoon.

Many were from people who were trapped in vehicles which had driven into water and were unable to escape.

Some homes were completely flooded - Great Barr resident Dean Evans’ home was left ruined after water rushed in, leaving sofas, tables and even his washing submerged.

This was among the worst-hit parts of the city – so much so that Thornbridge Avenue residents saw a man take to a canoe to transport himself

Residents in Haddon Road found had to wade through up to a foot of water at the height of the storm, marked by tide marks around the properties.

Many roads were flooded, including part of the M5, while several roads in Handsworth suffered structural damage because of the water.

Below: Collection of amazing flood pictures taken by Birmingham Mail readers

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Some streets literally cracked up under the pressure, with ‘sink holes’ opening up. Six schools were forced to fully or partially close on Thursday due to water damage.

Scores of drivers became trapped while trains and trams were also heavily disrupted by the flood waters.

The maternity ward at City Hospital was flooded while there were also problems with the electrics.

More: How we covered the flooding chaos as it happened

It is too early to know total cost of the clean up and repair operation, but it is likely to be many hundreds of thousands of pounds.

A spokesman for West Midlands Fire Service said : “Rain like many of us haven’t seen in our careers!’ That was how one fire officer described last night’s flash flooding across the West Midlands.

(Image: Julèz Dominguez)

“It was an extremely busy evening for the brigade, stretching our resources, with our Fire Control handling over 500 calls for assistance. The type of incidents we attended varied, from people trapped in cars, to hospitals that had flooded, to walls that had collapsed because of the rain.

“We’ve received a lot of thanks online, and our crews and staff really appreciate it. Whilst we hope incidents like this never happen, we regularly train and prepare for when they do. We’re glad we were able to help people in their time of need.”

Thankfully there are no downpours being forecast for the next few days - Friday and Saturday in Birmingham will be cloudy with temperatures of around 19C.