25 people were rescued from their homes in Surrey as the Thames flooded part of Chertsey.
19 flood warnings were in place in the county. Chertsey resident Pauline Bamforth said she was fast asleep when firefighters knocked on her door.
Speaking to ITV News London she said: "We were asked to evacuate our properties, which was all a bit of a shock, and we were all very shaky.
"The fire brigade did an amazing job of rescuing us house by house, making sure everybody was safe, including a lot of the older people.
"We were all told to pack a bag and brought here to Shepperton and to the emergency centre.
"We had a cat we weren't prepared to leave behind and we managed to get on the boat.
"The fire brigade help with the cat, as he did with the other four cats, two dogs and a budgie that were also brought here for safety. So it was quite tricky."