Water came up through the plugholes in people’s homes in two separate parts of Hove overnight as heavy rain caused problems across the area.
Two houses were affected in Applesham Avenue in Hangleton with one of the residents calling East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service shortly after 11.30pm.
The downpour had caused the drains outside to overflow and water began running in through the front door.
The fire crew from Hove used a submersible pump to clear the area of water and spent more than an hour at the scene.
They also called Brighton and Hove City Council to unblock the road drain.
The downpour also forced water back through the basin in the bathroom of a flat in New Church Road, Hove, shortly after midnight.
The flat was flooded as was the flat below, which also suffered a collapsed ceiling in the process.
A crew from Preston Circus, Brighton, found that water running off the roof and down to the drain was coming back up through the plughole of the basin in the bathroom.