Two hundred and sixty days since last year’s devastating flash flood, Coverack has emerged from the devastation and is gearing up for the summer season.

To coincide with a Royal visit, Cornwall Council is hosting a celebration on Thursday 5 April to recognise the community spirit and resilience shown by the people of Coverack after the flash flood that devastated the village on 18 July last year.

His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester will meet villagers and other volunteers who worked alongside emergency and council services to rescue and evacuate members of the public and support the community in bringing the village back to normal life in the aftermath of the storm.

The Council has organised the celebration event to coincide with the Royal visit as a thank you to all the individuals and services who helped and an opportunity to acknowledge the resilience and spirit of Coverack residents.

More than 50 homes and businesses were flooded and the main road washed away when rain, thunder and hail hit Coverack on the afternoon of 18 July 2017.

The Environment Agency recorded approximately 180mm of rainfall in three hours – three times the monthly average for the whole of July and enough to fill the Royal Albert Hall four times over.

Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service, HM Coastguard and Cornwall Council were quickly on the scene and were met with great support from the community. Residents took in their evacuated neighbours and used their local knowledge to guide the emergency services around the flood waters, through back gardens and over fences to reach those worst hit, and kept rescue workers topped up with tea.

Their combined efforts on the night saw two members of the public winched to safety from the roof of their flooded home and a mum and her young daughters piggybacked out of theirs by firefighters.

In the days and weeks after the flood, Cornwall Council, Cornwall Fire and Rescue Services, CORMAC and volunteers from RNAS Culdrose, Team Rubicon and Khalsa Aid amongst many others helped with the clean-up and kept morale high.

Working round the clock, CORMAC got the main road and carpark, ripped apart by the torrent of floodwater, repaired and reopened in five days – vital to a village reliant on the summer tourist trade.

Cornwall Council continues to work with a small number of residents and business owners to address some outstanding issues.

The Council is also supporting a campaign led by Visit Cornwall to show to visitors that Coverack is ready and remains open for business. The campaign will be shared on social media over the coming weeks in support of local businesses who rely on the summer tourist trade.