What lies beneath the floods

As the filthy flood waters begin to subside, they are revealing a scene of devastated homes. Now there are warnings of a mounting health risk from toxic chemicals and fatal bugs left behind in the wake of the deluge

The filthy brown flood waters may have been subsiding yesterday but the tide of human misery they have left in their wake was relentlessly swelling.

Few aspects of everyday life across huge swathes of central England have been unaffected by the unprecedented deluge of last weekend. It will be many weeks before normality returns.

The grim task of sifting through possessions was already under way yesterday. A steadily mounting pile of soaked and soiled items seemed to stand guard at every front door, waiting to come under the calculating eye of the insurance loss adjustor.

For more than 350,000 people in Gloucestershire the most pressing issue was not the loss of possessions, many of them prized. The biggest problem remains the lack of clean water after the county's main treatment plant was knocked out.

And it emerged last night that in the event of the flooding of Walham power station ­ which escaped being hit by waters from the Severn by two inches in the early hours of yesterday ­ ministers had drawn up plans to carry out evacuations inn Cheltenham and Gloucester. Yesterday in communities which only a few days ago were coping with little more than the inconvenience of the wretched British summer, residents were told it could be up to two weeks before they are reconnected to the mains water supply.

In the meantime they must queue for bottled water or fill containers at 900 bowsers in Gloucester, Cheltenham and Stroud. The council also issued an urgent plea for portable lavatories.

There were warnings of a mounting health risk from thousands of gallons of sewage and toxic chemicals that have spilled into homes, gardens and streets in recent days. The Health Protection Agency urged people to keep out of the water to avoid contact with potentially fatal microbes such as E.coli. The agency also warned of a sharp rise in stress-related illnesses as a result of the flooding.

A pregnant woman stranded in the floods lost her twins despite being airlifted to hospital. The woman gave birth to the premature twins in her Tewkesbury home moments before RAF rescue helicopters arrived. She was taken by one helicopter, and her babies were carried in another, to Cheltenham General Hospital where the babies died. The woman was 21 weeks pregnant and her family had called 999 on Saturday morning, but floods blocked the ambulance.

Tewkesbury, cut off by the flooded Severn and Avon rivers, yesterday remained little more than a ghost town with hotels ordered to close to guests, many of them stranded tourists, because of the lack of flushing lavatories. Joe Bishop, a manager at the Bell Hotel, where water continued to lap around the historic building, said staff had worked round the clock to stay open.

"The water level is going down a bit but we've run out of water, food, beer and linen and we've been told to close as a hotel. We've still got quite a few guests so I don't know where they are going to sleep tonight," he said.

John Healey, the Flood Recovery minister, who visited the market town as it suffered its fifth day under water yesterday, said it was impossible to rule out a repeat of the severe weather. The Government pledged a further £10m to alleviate the crisis.

The Association of British Insurers said its members had received 8,000 new claims since Saturday, 80 per cent of them from those whose homes had been flooded; that figure was set to rise. The cost of the summer floods in damage to property and loss of business rose to £2bn, insurers said, although one analyst put the figure at £3bn for repairs to damaged roads, railway lines and bridges alone.

In Gloucester, half of the city's shops were closed due to a lack of fresh water as the main A40 route into town remained impassable to traffic. Council offices were also shut as were the courts and major businesses.Non-urgent operations were cancelled at the Gloucestershire Royal and at the Cheltenham General.

There were also concerns over Gloucester City football club after its ground, Meadow Park, was flooded to the height of the crossbars. In Cheltenham, the Army is handing out bottled water at the racecourse. " We've got two babies aged six months and 18 months so obviously it's incredibly difficult not being able to bath them ­ you don't realise how often you need to use the water until it's gone," said Kelly Davis.

The spa town's pubs, restaurants and cafes currently at the height of the tourist season were severely affected. Those that had built of reserves of water were doing a thriving trade in the much-needed sunshine, though most were expected to close as stockpiled supplies ran out.

The first cracks also started appearing in the much-lauded community spirit. Police were forced to deal with reports of bowsers being vandalised while opportunist thieves tried to steal flood defences. Sir Nick Young, the chief executive of the British Red Cross, which has launched an appeal, said morale was in danger of collapsing. "You know, the Dunkirk spirit was very evident last night in the places that we visited, but it would be a miracle if it held up for 14 days."

More rain is forecast for today.

The main developments of the day

River Severn area

Flooding in the river Severn area appears to have passed its peak. In Gloucester, floodwater has receded, with levels falling by more than six inches in Tewkesbury. Electricity has been restored to 48,000 homes.

River Thames area

This is the main area of concern. Vulnerable towns include Henley, Reading, Marlow and Windsor. The peak in Pangbourne, Purley and Reading was expected early today. At risk are Datchet, Horton, Wraysbury, Cookham, Bisham and Hurley.

Drinking water

At least 350,000 people are without water. Severn-Trent Water said it would provide three million litres a day, and advised against panic buying. It could take up to two weeks to restore supplies.

Health warnings

Professor Kevin Kerr, consultant microbiologist and honorary clinical professor of microbiology, warned of gastro-related illness, vomiting and diarrhoea, although he said they would not necessarily be life threatening. He said people wading in floodwater should cover cuts.

Flood victims

A middle-aged man died yesterday in the Great Ouse, at Bedford. Mitchell Taylor, 19, from Tewkesbury has not seen since Saturday. A woman in Tewkesbury lost newborn twins despite being rescued.

Official responses

The Government last night pledged a further £10m, in addition to an initial £14m. The Queen has also sent a message of support. The Red Cross has launched an appeal.