Bang, dash, splash and crash

As a child whilst on holiday, I lay in a deep sleep - only to be awoken by someone banging and bashing at the door of the holiday caravan. It was a dark, moonless night. The pitch blackness added to the terror of the shouts and the bangs at the door. The river had swollen and was getting higher, the rain was falling and there was a fear that the banks would burst before high tide. We were instructed to go as we were, no time to pack, but to make our way to a Public House which stood on high ground. By morning the banks had burst and the water outside the Pub gushed past at high speed, pouring over the car park and down to the caravan park where it began to rise alarmingly. Eventually, high tide came, the rain stopped but we had to wait as the water was waist high. We were lucky as the caravan that we were staying in only had water up to its bottom seams and didn't enter inside. Not everyone was so fortunate - some vans had been washed away. We waited and eventually borrowed some fisherman's waders to get back inside the caravan. What was surprising was the strength and violence of the water. To avoid falling over in it we held on to each other and grabbed at trees and anything sturdy. Eventually we clambered up the steps and back into the caravan where we stayed until the water retrieved to shin height. There have been times over the last few weeks that I have thought about how violent the water was. Animals dead and floating, unrecognisable shapes swirling about and the stench violating the nose. I feel for all of these people who have had their homes taken over by these stagnant and dirty waters. It is still pouring with rain outside - there seems no end to this wetness. post extra: day 11 after St Swithin's - it has poured with rain all through the morning with heavy showers in the early afternoon.