When "Biblical" rain and hail hit Kent Museum of the Moving Image a day after re-opening, the curators literally needed bailing out.

As the elements pummelled the ground, the flow of water was so intense that a foot-deep pool of water gathered in minutes inside the garden wall at the attraction in Deal.

The water overflowed the ventilation brick flooding into the museum's storage basement.

Joss Marsh, who founded the museum with husband David Francis OBE in 2018 said: "Suddenly we were in inch-deep water, and more water was literally spouting out of the walls."

But this was where friends and volunteers came in.

First of all, Jon Hunt suggested towels, to staunch the flow of water. Thy created a very flimsy dam– but it worked.

Meanwhile, Mrs Marsh texted friends and volunteers asking for urgent use of a pump.

"They were an unstoppable duo..."

She added: "Sometimes, when impending disaster threatens – in this case, the loss of irreplaceable museum material – heroes appear.

"Kent MOMI's were 19-year-old Gabriel Mackie, who has volunteered at the museum since he was 12, and Andrew Sumner, a friend of his father and the curators'. They arrived almost simultaneously at the scene of inundation.

"Gabriel surveyed the rising flood.

"Our trawls for help had turned up no equipment but Gabriel said calmly: 'I've seen a Youtube tutorial that shows how to turn a Henry hoover into a suction pump.'"

Being in possession of one Gabriel was was suctioning water at speed within five minutes.

Mrs Marsh added: "Andy was running up and down the basement stairs with buckets. It was like Disney's Sorcerer's Apprentice in reverse.

"They were an unstoppable duo."

Ensuring friendship and quick thinking saved the day, Gabriel and Andrew worked into the night, getting the water out "almost as soon as it got in."

The following morning, with more torrential rain forecast, Stuart Moore, museum building manager, turned up at 6am to raise a brick wall around the ventilation brick, and at 9am friend and museum neighbour David Heard and his friend, builder Brian Maidment, came to lend a hand, drilling drainage holes in the garden wall.

The result was minimal damage – and no closure of a museum Deal has waited to re-open for so many months.

Kent MOMI is at Stanhope Road, Deal.

Mr Francis was founder of the London MOMI.

The couple's Kent version celebrates the magical history of film.With more than 60,000 objects collected over 50 years, it provides an exciting walk through the silver screen, browsing what took seven years to curate.

Both Mrs Marsh and Mr Francis are equal co-founders. Mrs Marsh was a distinguished Professor of Victorian studies and cinema and has published widely in both areas. Mr Francis was a film archivist and part of the team that built The Museum of the Moving Image in London.

He said: "The Museum in Deal is a genuine combination of our skills and experiences."

The museum is open Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holidays 11am to 6pm (May to September) and 11am to 5pm (October to April).

Read more: All the latest news from Deal