IT'S hard to begin to imagine how difficult it is to overcome one flood, let alone repeat the ordeal.

But for many families in Cumbria this was the frightening reality they were faced as one of the worst storms in living memory battered the county.

Former city councillor Elsie Martlew was flooded for the second time in 2015. She and her husband Eric were devastated in 2005 returning from London knowing their home in Caldew Maltings was flooded. There were boats in Caldewgate and they couldn't even get to their house to salvage their belongings.

To then see rising floodwaters coming into their beloved home again 10 years later, Mrs Martlew, 70, finds it difficult to describe the heartbreak.

"The older you get the harder it is to bounce back," said Mrs Martlew, who was displaced from her home for 12 months. "It was just horrendous. You don't get over it and every time there is heavy rains you watch the river creep up and think it's going to happen again."

Despite being signed up to flood alerts, doing what they could to prepare and move as much as they could, when the floodwater started to come over their garden wall, there was nothing the couple could do.

"We watched it happen and it was just awful. You have got to go through it to understand the devastation it causes," said Mrs Martlew.

"Once it happened you were no longer anxious but then the trauma kicks in.

"You are ten years older, you know what it's like, what you are going to go through, and how long it's going to be. It's your home, you love it."

Coming into a fifth winter with little more protection than they had then, she struggles to calm her nerves when it rains.

"It's been five years since Storm Desmond and nothing has been done down here in Caldewgate," Mrs Martlew added. "In 2005 the defences were built in four years from scratch. We haven't had a brick laid down here to enhance the flood defences that are here.

"We are as much as risk now than we have ever been.

"I really blame the Government for not taking this with any degree of priority. They shift it to the Environment Agency but the Government hold the purse strings.

"The first duty to a Government is the protection of the people. I doubt we will be safe next winter and I'm so angry and worried. I want to feel secure in my home."

"If you look at the kind of contracts the Government has given out on Covid, they can find the money."

Caldewgate comes into the Environment Agency's third phase of Carlisle's £25m flood risk management scheme that will better protect more than 1,600 homes and businesses.

This will consist of raising the existing defences along the River Caldew, along with enhanced maintenance of the river corridor, to achieve protection equivalent to the levels experienced in Storm Desmond. Ground investigations were due to begin in September.

Among those doing their bit to help was Gareth Hayes, who is secretary of Appleby Emergency Response Group.

The group was already in its infancy at that time but Storm Desmond propelled it into action, with an army of volunteers stepping up to help their community in its time of need. They moved sandbags and went from door to door to check on residents.

"We just rallied round in terms of a stoical approach and an un-panicked approach to what needed to be done.

"The emergency services had first call on what to do but we knew the people who needed rescuing and the people who were in their houses.

"It was a tougher call than anything you see on television. It was very real. I remember, people were overwhelmed by it.

"Appleby was split into two and we had no idea what was going on at the other side of town."

Mr Hayes, who is now the Mayor of Appleby, woke up to debris on the road near his house on the morning of December 6, after river levels began to subside.

"My front door shouldn't get anywhere near the river but that just shows how high it was," he said.

"This was just the start. We then had two further floods during December that were close to Christmas. It was the same again."

Residents evacuated from their homes and the Edenside Care Home was also evacuated. It was closed as a result of the flood but there are now plans for it to be demolished and rebuilt as an elderly care facility.

Due to the bridge closure there was also a 15 miles detour for residents living in the town in the days after the flood and there were on-going power cuts due to damage cause to the electricity substation.

Appleby Emergency Response Group is now a registered charity. It stepped up to respond to flooding in February before more than 70 volunteers then helped to deliver prescriptions and shopping during the Covid-19 pandemic.

They have formalised their emergency response plans and when required the schools become their control centre.

"We have motto of trying to maintain smiles to offer assurance to people," said Mr Hayes, who has seen the most vulnerable people in his town at their greatest time of need.

"While it was horrific it has helped us future proof the town.

"It's unconditional to support your town. I was emotional and overwhelmed when we flooded.

"I think the town is uniquely appreciative of what these volunteers do."