Mike and Nadine Torr were on the verge of cancelling their wedding last October after the summer flooding left the ground floor of their home, in Catcliffe, Rotherham, under three feet of water.
The couple were forced to spend their first few months of marriage in a single room at Nadine's parents' house. Further problems with cowboy builders meant they weren't back in their marital home until after Christmas.
Torr says: "We didn't really have a flood kit as such - maybe a torch - but it wouldn't really help with standing water like we had. Once it's over your dampcourse there's little you can do. Everything on the ground floor was soaked and stinking, and upstairs was damp. All told, the flooding caused about £50,000 of damage.
"They've just agreed to build 4,000 new homes at [nearby] Orgreave pit, with the promise of 'self-cleaning ditches'. I'm a bit sceptical about that. I've only got positive things to say about Rotherham council though. The floods have meant all the authorities are now talking to each other, and any mistakes they did make shouldn't happen again.
"One thing the council has done is create flooding vaults underground in the area. These can then be opened whenever a flood warning is in place, which should give the sewers some relief and give the extra water somewhere to go," says Torr.
"I think it's difficult to lay the blame, when there are now all sorts of private water companies, and different levels of local government responsibility. The real failing is the lack of accountability and responsibility."
