FAMILIES fought back tears as their homes were ruined by rainwater...

just six months after the last disaster.

Homes on San Remo Road, on Canvey, were hit by floods last August, but were devastated again after Sunday’s flash flood.

The Fisher and Staines families were forced to move out back then for seven months and only returned in January.

This time Brian Staines, 77, and wife Irene, 69, were on their way to Suffolk for a holiday with their grandchildren when the weather turned. They raced back to the island to try to protect their home, which Brian built in 1966.

Mr Staines, who made an £86,000 claim for flood damage last year, said: “We are in despair. It is just more anguish. This area was a lake for half a mile. I want to know when someone is going to take the responsibility to fix this.”

Mrs Staines said: “I don’t think I can cope with much more and I don’t want to live here any more. I didn’t want to come home. We had it last year and now this.

“The grandchildren, they are seven and nine, theywere upstairs and we ended up getting them down with a ladder.

“Our neighbours, I can’t fault them. They have been fantastic. If I move, I want them all to come with me.”

Neighbour Dave Fisher, 49, managed to move furniture onto tables and the most valuable possessions upstairs, before his ground floor was full of water.

He said: “I’m annoyed it’s happened again. Last time we were told it was a once in a 100 year event and less than a year later here we are again. We are just hoping the insurance people pay out.

They put us in rented accommodation last time.”

His wife, Tracy, 52, said: “I want to sell and leave this house. But what would we tell people who came to view it?

“We put in new windows, new electrics, new doors, new plastering, new central heating, we built our dream home. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to cope this time. I don’t know what we are going to do.”