Anger at 'lack' of storm flood action

HUNDREDS of people have been left homeless in the wake of Storm Babet, with around 1,250 properties in England alone as areas such as Northumberland and South Yorkshire saw record daily rainfalls for October.

- ROB PARSONS

And, as flood-hit communities across the North East, Yorkshire, Midlands and Scotland pick up the pieces, it's tempting to wonder what they might think of the suggestion by the Environment Secretary that the damage done was harder to predict because rain came in from the east.

Some of those affected in Retford, Nottinghamshire, were angered by a "lack of action" to protect their homes, with one resident describing a visit by Therese Coffey as an attempt to "polish her halo". And in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, the Environment Agency has been criticised for "unacceptable" delays in issuing flood alerts.

Ms Coffey this week told MPs a "rapid review" would be conducted after highlighting that some flood-hit UK communities felt they could have been given more pumps to stop them from becoming submerged.