This is what is left of Natalie Leith's apartment after it was gutted by flood water.

School teacher Ms Leith was forced to swim to safety and escaped through a window as the water gushed into her basement apartment. It was so badly damaged, she was left with just the clothes she was wearing at the time.It happened on Tuesday night when the Island was hit by a huge storm – bringing the highest rainfall in one day for a year.

Ms Leith, a Trinidadian, said: "It started when I was sleeping. In between sleep I heard thunder and rumbling at around 9 p.m. At one point I heard a very distinct noise as if stuff was rattling. Then I fell back into a deep sleep.

"Then I felt the water lash me. Water had gushed through my bedroom door and its force pushed me off of my bed. Then I looked and saw the water gushing through the door with an angry rage."

The Whitney Middle School maths teacher added: "As I slept the water came gushing through my bedroom doorway, through some cracks.

"I believe the water originally entered through my front door. At that point I was desperate to get out and I kept trying to turn the bedroom doorknob but it was jammed.

"I think my escape was through divine intervention. I felt as if something just guided me to climb on top of a treadmill I had in the room and I don't even know how I got through that little window.

"Before I escaped I noticed the water to be near my neck. I realised as a saying goes in Trinidad, 'it's water more than flour' everything was just floating around my bedroom as if I was inside of a huge bucket.

Ms Leith said she had checked the weather forecast and said she expected a downpour but not what has now left all of her belongings destroyed and covered with mud. "I knew it was going to rain throughout the daytime. The thing about this rainfall was it didn't sound heavy from where I was at. The thunder was very loud the worst I've experienced since being in Bermuda," she said.

It is not known exactly what caused the flood, but it's thought water may have built up behind a nearby embankment which broke, sending the water cascading down a driveway into the apartment.

Yesterday when her colleagues heard of her plight, they rushed to her apartment, on Lane East, in Pembroke, taking turns to help her clean it up. Some even took turns washing her drenched clothes. They also took up a collection to help Ms Leith.

Some of her students also visited her home in shifts to give her emotional and practical support. The damage inside caused some to compare it with Hurricane Katrina which devastated the southern US in 2005. Fellow teacher Sharon Williams said Whitney staff had found about her colleague's tale via e-mail. "It explained that Natalie had been flooded out and was in need of everything.

"We had an emergency meeting in the library, which included our Principal. The response was overwhelming.

"It was one of those situations where people don't stop to think and just react because a colleague was in need." But Ms Williams thought, as she saw the damage, "my God".

"It was miraculous that she survived. For me, coming from the US, the scene brought back memories of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath."

Upstairs neighbours Sandra Penner and her husband said they heard a "frantic" knock on her door.

Mrs. Penner said: "At first I was reluctant to answer because it scared me so my husband answered it."

He then saw Natalie out there and he immediately told me to 'get her some clothes' because she was out there with nothing. I then went outside and I was shocked as soon as I saw the floodwaters and knew what was happening.

"All I wanted to do was to comfort her, you don't know what to do in a situation like that. We just tried to make her feel better and I called 911 and the fire department came."Before they arrived they told me they were dealing with about 20 or 30 basement floods and it might 'be a while' before they came. I noticed the water in her apartment was about eight feet."

The Bermuda Weather Service blamed the rainfall on a series of thunderstorms that covered the Island. According to metrologist Nick Camizzi Tuesday's downpour was the most the Island had seen in 24 hours in almost a year.

"I've been here for a year and it was the most amount of rain I've seen in a day," he said. "It was the most rainfall in a day, since May 14, 2007, which, like Tuesday night, saw 2.63 inches of rainfall.

"The most rainfall recorded in a 24-hour period was 4.1 inches in May 1997."

Mr. Camizzi added: "The rainfall was not unprecedented but it's a lot of rain to fall in a short period of time. It was a thunderstorm event so the rain comes down very quickly."We actually recorded thunder here at the airport for almost four straight hours. It was basically due to a line of thunderstorms which hung around the Island."

Ms Leith's home is managed by the Ministry of Works and Engineering and yesterday her co-workers complained the residential property management unit at the Ministry failed to comprehend the urgency of the situation despite phone calls from several staff on her behalf.

The teacher spent Tuesday night at a neighbour's home and will be staying with friends until she is able to find an alternative home.

Yesterday afternoon, a Whitney staff member told this paper that a team from the Ministry turned up at the residence to assess the damage and help Ms Leith with finding temporary accommodation.The source said: "The team has been very helpful in finding Natalie another place. I'm told they've already found her a temporary place."

Permanent Secretary of Works and Engineering Robert Horton last night expressed regret over how the response to Ms Leith's plight was originally handled.Responding to written questions from this paper, he stated: "Normal practice and procedure at the Ministry require an immediate response, where practicable, to requests for assistance to members of the public.

"Therefore I deeply regret the fact the Ministry did not respond more promptly to the plight of Ms Leith, whose apartment experienced significant flooding during last evening's torrential downpour."

Mr. Horton conceded that the manager originally contacted about assistance for Mrs Leith, Lu'Gene Smith, was not aware of the gravity of the situation.

"(A Ministry of Education official) spoke to Mrs. Smith around 9.40 a.m. today, informing her of the water damage to Ms Leith's home. Unaware of the gravity of the situation, Mrs. Smith requested the official to tell Ms Leith to notify her at her earliest convenience.

"It was only after one of Ms Leith's colleagues frustratedly contacted the Ministry when Mr. Horton and Minister Derrick Burgess, in the afternoon, intervened in the matter to expedite the assistance. Meanwhile Mr. Horton estimated the damage to be "in the thousands of dollars".

He added: "The inventory of available apartments has been checked for sharing with Ms Leith."

Once Ms Leith has chosen an available property, staff at the Ministry will furnish it, if required and ensure that it is tenable."

Anyone wishing to provide any assistance to Ms Leith is asked to contact the Whitney Middle School on 292-1021.