A flash flood has swept through the Cornish Village of Coverack filling homes with water and causing extensive damage.
Emergency services have issued a public plea urging people not to try to drive through the floodwaters which are as high as four feet in some places.
Two people were rescued by a coastguard helicopter, based in Newquay, a spokeswoman for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency confirmed.
Images and footage from Coverack show floodwater pouring through the village and over the sea wall below.
Fire crews and an emergency helicopter are trying to reach people trapped in their homes. Several have already been airlifted to safety including a couple in their 70s.
Residents said that rain and hailstones a wide as 50p pieces lashed the town after 3pm with the storm lasting an hour and a half.
Bill Frisken, a local councillor in Coverack, told the BBC he could not reach the centre of the village because the main road was underwater.
“It was almost instantaneous,” he said. “The village has effectively been cut in half, you can't cross the river.”
Pictures also show the main road into the village, the B3294, has been completely destroyed by the volume of water surging over it, and residents can not get into or out of the village.
Coverack resident Chloe Marsland told ITV news her garage was flooded with 12 inches of water: “It's like Boscastle all over again, there is no business or house not been affected.”
“It's absolutely harrowing,” she added. “The house opposite me filled with water really quickly.”
Ms Marsland said she thought everyone in the village was safe.
