By Avril Ormsby GLOUCESTER, England, July 24 (Reuters) - When evacuated student Sophie Pittaway returned to her flooded home she could see a fridge floating in the kitchen, chairs swimming in the living room and the toilet barely visible under water. "It was horrible going through the door again," she said. "Newts were in the house. I feel numb, I don't know what to do." For the hundreds of people whose homes have been flooded in the medieval town of Gloucester in western England, all they can do is wait. They are among the worst hit by floods that inundated parts of central and western England after torrential rain, driving thousands of people from their homes and causing hundreds of millions of pounds of damage. After watching the water level of the River Severn rise to record heights, and seeing it breach the barriers, all Gloucester residents can do now is wait for it to recede and for their homes to dry out. "That's the dirtiest part," said Omar Alim, 36. "That is when it will begin to smell." Alim ferries stranded residents through the waist-high muddy water in his dinghy. He paddles past bins bobbing on the water's surface, cars partly submerged and gas canisters rolling on the water's edge. FLOOD WATERS The mechanic has seen his property and business damaged by the flood waters. His mother's terraced house was under two feet of water and his grandparents' nearby bungalow was also submerged. His workshops are also flooded. They are among the thousands of people who have been evacuated from their homes. "Financially, this is costing both ways," he said, meaning personally and professionally. But the residents wonder where the water can go with the river full and the surrounding fields water-logged. An estimated 350,000 people are also having to cope with the loss of mains water, and in some cases, electricity after flooding at a treatment works and sub-station. Bottles of water are being handed out and trucks are delivering water, but few residents in the flooded area have seen any, they said. Some of the shops have empty shelves because of panic buying, though police now stand guard at the entrances to some of the bigger supermarkets. Other stores have had to throw away rotten food after power cuts. Residents faced with the possibility of two weeks without water are using baby wipes and bottled water to wash. Many residents have returned to their homes, but some have not dared to see the damage. "I have visions of ruination," the 64-year-old Holmes added.
