Exactly one year ago today, when the rain began to fall, few in Coverack could have predicted the devastation that was about to hit.

It began like any other summer's day in Cornwall. Tourists milled around, not put off by a slightly grey sky overhead, and the shops and cafes were trading as usual.

Yet July 18, 2017 will always be remembered in history as the day much of Coverack was destroyed by flash flooding, which tore up roads, damaged 50 home and saw families airlifted to safety from their homes in scenes reminiscent of a disaster movie.

Today it is a very different picture - a testament to the resilience of the people of Coverack, who worked day and night to have the village back up and running in only a week.

Now, there is no trace of the four foot wall of water that swept through the village, taking gardens, windows and even shops with it.

In celebration of Coverack's miraculous recovery, today will see a "one year on" celebration take place, with an exhibition of photos, remembering the damage and resulting clear up operation, in St Peter's Hall at 2pm and the annual duck race at 4.30pm, involving the river in a more positive way.

The forecast, thankfully, looks very different to a year ago, with bright sunshine expected this afternoon.

Ducks, costing £2.50 each, can be bought from 2pm and all must be registered by 4.15pm, to race down the river into the sea.

At that time 12 months ago, it had already become very clear that this was no ordinary rain shower.

Having started falling heavily from 3pm, by 5.20pm a major incident had been declared. Thunder and hail also barraged the village, stranding passengers on a double decker bus unable to make it up the steep road out the village - which would subsequently have a deep gouge ripped through it by the force of the flood water.

Had it not been for the fast response of St Keverne firefighters and their neighbouring colleagues, homes would have been lost entirely, while Porthoustock and Mullion coastguards rescued stranded families and those unable to be reached on foot were winched from the roof by the coastguard helicopter.

Afterwards, the Environment Agency reported that approximately 180mm of rainfall had been recorded in three hours – three times the monthly average for the whole of July.

Yet the community pulled together, joined by teams who travelled from all over the country to help in the clean up, while Cormac worked around the clock to reopen the main road in just six days.