We're really quite good in a crisis

I can hear the complaints already what does Gilligan know? Has he been down to Tewkesbury in his wellies? Doesn't he realise that half a million people have been affected? Well, yes, they have but only about 10,000 have actually been flooded. And even some of those have, until now at least, clearly been relishing the break from routine.

The normal rules of Middle England, such as the strict ban on talking to strangers, have been temporarily suspended. And look at all those excited kids in the TV pictures, sloshing through the water on their bikes.

For a rich, heavily-taxed country, Britain is pretty bad at providing normal, basic services. Where else would the shambles of Metronet be tolerated for a second? But it is really rather good in a crisis.

We Brits love crises. We love coping, feeling leonine and phlegmatic.

That is one of the reasons why, for all their horror, the 7/7 attacks did not have the effects their perpetrators wanted. The floods may have submerged streets, but they brought some of the best things about us to the surface.

The things which worked best were the most local and personal: Gloucestershire police, thankfully not merged into one of New Labour's regional super-forces; borough councils; volunteer organisations; neighbours.

The things which worked less well were the organisations run centrally, such as Baroness Young's Environment Agency. Only a few weeks before the floods, MPs ripped into the EA for its neglect of flood defences. At exactly the same time, we now learn, the agency's directors were opening the money sluice-gate and raining bonuses on themselves..

It's probably unfair to attack the Environment Agency for not holding back what was an unprecedented torrent, but the mood music is not good.

The fact that we've been enjoying the crisis may explain why it has yet to have any political effect. But that may change. Three people have died. The novelty of the flooding is wearing off, and the dreary reality of no drinking water and acres of ruined carpet is kicking in..

Over the next six months, thousands of people and businesses may well learn that they are now uninsurable, or at least denied insurance at any kind of premium they can afford. They will be faced with risking everything if the waters come again, or moving somewhere else.

There will be an inquiry; and although it will probably be the usual snow-job, it might find some embarrassing facts. Gordon is not out of the water yet..