Tbh the flood was nothing compared to what some folks get and was never going to hurt anyone, not unless we slipped and went A over T. Thanks to the insurance, it's more a massive inconvenience than anything.
Nor should flooding become a regular danger. It only happened because we had a month's worth of rain (55mm) fall in the space of an hour, and that went on for three solid hours. I've never known rain like it in this country. In intensity maybe, once or twice, but not in duration. Nowhere near. Downpours like that usually last for 5-10 minutes, tops, then ease off. This was just relentless.
It wouldn't have happened either if local residents had been listened to and a drainage channel installed when the local authority gave permission for a block of flats to be developed on a patch of open ground immediately opposite. Neither authority nor the developers wanted to take responsibility for sorting it out, so it's led to some minor drainage issues out on the public path.
Now it's affected the houses - specifically ours - I've been looking into whether we can sue them or not, and whether there is anything we can do collectively to force either or both of them to take action and get it sorted out, once and for all.