A dad was forced to escape his flooded home today (tues) and wade through waist-deep water to get food for his kids.

Billy Vernon, 39, was trapped inside his four-bedroom rented property in Axminster, Devon, as floodwater surged in during the early hours this morning

Floodwater from the nearby River Axe killed chickens kept in his garden, wiped out his kitchen and left his family stranded upstairs.

The river was swollen by rain from Storm Chandra.

The flooding hit so fast that water began pouring through the windows, leaving the house more than a metre underwater at its peak.

With the kitchen unreachable and supplies ruined, Billy had no choice but to escape through a window and walk through floodwater to get essentials.

Billy said: "I had to go and get some food and supplies because the water was up to my waist and everything in the kitchen has gone."

He picked up water, juice and sandwiches for his 14-year-old and 17-year-old sons, who are staying at the house with him.

The devastation extended beyond the house itself, with animals feared lost to the floods - including 20 chickens in the garden and two lizards that lived in enclosures in the house.

Billy said he is still sheltering inside the property with his children upstairs as floodwater remains.

He said: "We've got nowhere else to go at the moment - and the electric works upstairs."

Billy described being jolted awake by his son after receiving a flood warning just hours earlier.

He said: "At about 2am, I got a flood warning, so I put a couple of our flood barriers out on the drive and went to bed."

"It was fine at that time."

"But at 4.30am, it was coming through the windows. The water was a metre high."

He added: "It was frightening. My son came running in panicking saying that the house was filling up with water."

"I wanted to burst into tears."

Billy said he was unable to reach the kitchen at all.

He said: "When I left to get supplies, I had to climb out of the window and out through the water."

He said the damage to the home is extensive, adding: "The whole area is all under water. It's still a foot and a half deep in my house."

"All of the furniture is destroyed and the walls are going to have to be redone."

"My mum recently passed away and I had her belongings here, I don't know where they are."

Billy said he has not been contacted by the council and remains unsure what help is coming.

The self-employed builder said he worries about the effect on his work, as his van was underwater and tools were damaged.

Emergency services were still at the scene as Billy said vehicles had risked being swept away by water.

He said: "They're still stopping cars because multiple vehicles were almost getting washed away. Police are stopping traffic."

Billy said he had no idea flooding of this scale was coming, despite checking official updates before bed.

He said: "You get your updates from the Met Office and it said there would be surface level flood at 2.30am, so I went to bed."

He said the property flooded once before over a year ago - but nothing on this scale.

Billy has launched a fundraiser asking for support after the damage caused to his belongings.

It can be found here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/single-father-of-4-home-flooded-and-lost-everything