1953 Flood: A Story From Harwich, Essex, England

We got to the boys room, I gathered their clothing, lit a few candles and we sat together waiting, the boys had heard noises and were awake, one looked out of the window and saw a dead dog float by, he was so distressed, it was then that I realised how serious things were, that window was the highest point of a three storey house, the water was just below the window. I opened the window, the air was freezing and the noise was horrendous, I called out to a man in a rowing boat , he was rowing up the main road towards us, we were rescued, my mind went out to my sister and my husband, they were in the highest, fiercest part of the flood, I prayed to God to keep them safe. He had answered my prayers; they were waiting for us at the end of the road.

Rowing up the main road was a novelty for the boys and they giggled at the adventure of it all, I just sat quietly, sad thoughts of the loss we and others had suffered that night. The Salvation Army, the Red Cross and the local community were wonderful, we were given food packages and clothing, our families in safe areas were contacted and we were taken in and cared for.

We lived with my parents for nine months; we were allowed to visit our homes after the water had subsided, the sight and the smell was dreadful, our homes were classified as a health hazard and we had to leave with the officials, we were not allowed to stay. My bottled fruit and salted meat lay rotting, sewerage and street debris lay across the floor. I cried, I cried for the loss of the home we had made, I cried for the friends who lost family and I cried because the struggle was just beginning.

The authorities used cleaning chemicals to sanitize our property and then gave us a date we could start clearing out, the task was tiring, emotionally draining and frightening as we came to terms with what we had lost. Most of the wooden items were rotten and declared unfit for putting back in the house, Jack made new furniture from good wood , I begged unused curtains and materials from friends and family and between us we put the heart back into our home.

October 1953 was a wonderful month, we were given the legal paperwork declaring our homes free from hazard to our health. We left the care of our families and became independent once more, we also had another room to prepare as baby number four was arriving in March 1954, my nest was complete, and we were home.