With the ebbing surge, thousands of people are making their way back to their abandoned homes along the East Coast of England. A repetition of the storm of 1953, in which 307 people drowned, appears to have been averted. It was the worst postwar disaster in British history and led to the creation of the Thames Barrier and other defences that helped to prevent a repetition this time round.

What was remarkable about the aftermath of the 1953 floods was the extent to which the rest of the world offered to come to Britain's rescue. London had been on the brink of disaster. Sea walls at Canvey Island and West Ham collapsed. The Docklands all but went under. Unsure whether the capital city was going the way of Venice or Atlantis, crowds watched in alarm and awe as the floodwater began lapping the

top of the Embankment at Westminster.

Few of those who lost their homes or livelihoods were insured for flood damage. Yet there were no reports of panic. Having survived trial by fire, the Blitz spirit endured the trial by water. The response of the public, roused by tales of stoic endurance, was remarkable.

The Lord Mayor of London launched a National Flood and Tempest Distress Fund, with Churchill's Government promising to meet what it raised pound for pound. Street collections were organised across the country. Scottish miners even voted to have part of their pay deducted and sent to the victims. A particularly enterprising firm in Wolverhampton hit upon the wheeze of chartering flights over the submerged areas, charging passengers £20 for the tour, duly donated to the relief fund. Theatreland also got in on the act, with a charity matinee of The Merchant of Venice.

Wartime friends and foes united in common humanity. The Bundestag sent a message of sympathy, swiftly backed up by the West German Government's offer of help. The Yugoslav and Swiss governments sent financial aid. Other offers came from governments as diverse as those of Siam, the Soviet Union and the Netherlands. Indeed, the latter's concern was the most remarkable given that the same floods had claimed 1,800 Dutch lives.

Even Africa was stirred. The Sudan Star newspaper launched its own appeal for funds, announcing that it was important that Britons knew that their suffering could be heard in Khartoum. From across the Atlantic, the House of Assembly in Bermuda gifted £2,000. It wanted its money to help the people of Canvey Island, as “from one island to another”. It took Billy Butlin to remind us all that “business as usual” was the true British response. The relief funds, he complained, by giving the impression his and other coastal resorts were under water, were “doing untold harm to the holiday trade”.

Times Recommends

• There's no future for prophets of doom
• New Labour family seethes with hatred
• Shallow, fake... Palin's beyond parody