A Bermudian couple were last night trapped in their rain-battered home as Tropical Storm Fay caused flooding chaos in Florida. Darren and Keema Perry, who moved to the US five years ago, spent yesterday preparing for the worst as the water level in their street rose dramatically.

Their neighbours' homes have already been completely flooded, but because their own property is slightly higher up, last night, sandbags were keeping the water at bay.

Mr. Perry, who has been wading across the road to help his waterlogged friends, was in high spirits when he spoke to The Royal Gazette about the floods.

"The rain is absolutely torrential but I have to say some of the other people are a lot worse off than us," he said.

"We have been outside since 7 o'clock in the morning doing all we could to help everyone. My hands are shrivelled and as white as can be.

"They have suggested we evacuate — but how can we? The roads are impassable."

The Perrys live in Melbourne, where according to reports last night up to 22 inches of rain had fallen after three days of incredible rain.

Hundreds of homes have been flooded across Florida, some by up to five feet of standing water. In three towns, rising floodwaters have backed up sewage systems. Dozens of residents have had to be rescued.

Fay first struck on Monday, in the Florida Keys island chain, and veered out to sea.

Then it headed east across the state, briefly strengthening, before losing steam and stalling.

The storm barely moved for most of yesterday, dumping inches and inches of rain over central Florida.