Joe McGuire

Joe McGuire was grateful to move into a new flat after finding himself waist-deep in flood water in his old front room. As a result of torrential rain and gales in January last year, Joe and many of his neighbours were forced out of their homes in Carlisle.

Around 6,000 people were affected by the contaminated floodwaters that surged over the banks of the city’s three rivers. Hundreds became homeless. Their 1,600 homes had to be cleared of sewage, silt and debris.

“You think of water as benign,” Joes says, “but it is very destructive.”

He was pleased that landlord Impact Housing Association was quick to act. He was moved into a new flat in a house converted with Housing Corporation funding.

“Flat? It’s more like a palace,” Joe says. “You couldn’t get me out of here with a bazooka.”