Many still homeless after floods

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Forty-eight thousand households and 7,000 business were badly hit by water damage in the heavy rains of June and July, and the Government has so far paid out £57 million to local authorities towards the cost of repairing the uninsurable damage.

The majority of those hit have returned home, but thousands of families now face Christmas in temporary accommodation as the clean-up goes on.

Mr Healey, speaking in Brussels after talks on the Government's application for EU cash aid to help with the repair effort, said it was difficult to provide accurate figures because many of the homeless had made their own arrangements for temporary accommodation.

But he said "several thousand" households remain unable to get back to normal.

He described EU cash aid expected early next year from Brussels as an "important" addition to national funding.

"The summer's floods caused misery for thousands of people with widespread damage across large parts of the country," said Mr Healey.

"The UK Government, emergency services and agencies have undertaken a huge amount of work to provide both practical and financial assistance to support the flood relief effort and help communities get back on their feet. But clearly the financial costs of the floods were significant."

The Government applied in August for help from the EU Solidarity Fund (EUSF) for natural disasters. Grants are usually between 2.5% and 5% of the total cost of damage suffered.

On Wednesday Mr Healey estimated total damage from the June and July floods at about £3.5 billion, and EU Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Hubner told him the Government could expect about £115 million early next year: "We're quite close to finalising procedures and I don't expect any surprises. We should have a Commission decision in November, then the recommendation must go to the European Parliament and the Council (EU ministers)."