Torrential rain caused chaos as flash floods threatened homes and businesses.
The worst-hit area was around Worthing and in Angmering, where 41mm of rain fell in 24 hours.
The Environment Agency issued flood watches, its lowest-level warning, for the upper Arun, lower Arun, western Rother and Ferring regions.
Heavy rainfall began at about 5pm on Saturday and intensified before dying down about 11pm.
Sussex Fire Brigade received dozens of reports of flooding, many resulting from blocked drains. A spokesman said: "We were kept very busy. But mostly, by the time we got there it had subsided."
The Eastbourne and Hastings areas were also affected, with fire crews called to three outbreaks of flooding in Hastings as gulleys were blocked.
A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: "We had quite a lot of surface water flooding across the region. The problem was the ground is quite hard at the moment and we got a lot of water just sitting on the surface."
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