Diaries describe flooding misery

Thousands strill remain homeless after the floods

A study into the long-term effects of the 2007 floods in East Yorkshire is using the diaries of disaster victims.

Researchers from Lancaster University will be studying the daily logs of 55 residents who are keeping notes of their difficulties, eight months on.

Many are still living in caravans and temporary accommodation and will keep diaries for another 18 months.

The findings will be fed back to key agencies such as Hull City Council and the Environment Agency.

The study will focus on the long-term impact of flooding on health, social networks and economic wellbeing.

The diaries will also be collated into a permanent archive documenting the slow process of recovery, to be available for future historians.

About 2,000 people are still living in temporary accommodation and 800 families in caravans across the Hull area.

The university used a similar approach to chronicle the long-term impact of the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak on communities in Cumbria in 2001.