EAST Lancashire was counting the cost after a massive storm brought torrential rain, floods, fires and power cuts.

Within minutes of the rain starting, water poured into shops in Blackburn, and cars were "floating" as drains became choked. Lightning blacked out power supplies to hundreds of homes in the Ribble Valley and Tockholes area.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.