FLOOD-hit residents are feeling "frustrated, stressed and angry at the slow pace of flood recovery", says the National Flood Forum.

The charity met with hundreds of people during a 16-day tour of Cumbria, offering support and advice to anyone affected by Storm Desmond and the winter floods.

After the initial feelings of panic, shock and heartbreak about the damage to their homes and businesses, many people are now coming to terms with being out of their properties for several months and not knowing when they can move back in, the charity told the Gazette.

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Staff from the National Flood Forum toured 20-flood hit locations in partnership with the Environment Agency, Cumbria County Council and local councils. Collectively they spoke to an estimated 650 people who wanted to express their views and discuss concerns following the floods.

High on the list of difficulties were dealing with loss adjustors; progressing insurance claims; knowing what to do if they were uninsured; and issues between tenants and landlords.

A recurring theme was the shortage of independent surveyors to give impartial advice, particularly about how to stretch the £5,000 Government resilience grant to cover their needs.

Heather Shepherd, the National Flood Forum's community support and flood recovery specialist, told the Gazette: "We are seeing people who have never been flooded before who don’t know what to expect or who to turn to for help with the recovery process.

"Many feel as though they’re banging their head against a brick wall.

"We can offer independent advice and guidance about how best to approach insurance problems or how to reinstate homes; who to talk to and where to go for help with grant applications.

"While the £5,000 sum is welcome, it isn’t actually very much when you think about the types of measures that are needed to make a property more resilient to flood if it should happen again."

She added: "People want to take action to ensure their rebuild is progressing with a positive and advancing approach. All they want is to return to some sense of normality but problems with insurance, finance, builders, surveyors, grant processes, and the worry that the continuing rain will flood them again and take them back to square one proves a major issue and seriously hinders the rate at which they can get things done.

"Even where these problems don’t arise, the bottom line is that recovery is a long process and being out of your home for months is tough."

The National Flood Forum says it has heard from a lot of people who have "very clear and credible ideas" about how they think flood risk should be managed in the future.

Heather added: "We firmly believe that communities should lead the flooding debate and that their local knowledge and aspirations should be heard and used as part of a multi-agency approach to a wider look at flood risk management.

"We support flood-affected people to set up Flood Action Groups and help them map out the issues they’ve faced. We then bring them together with key agencies in multi-agency meetings to address these problems with the intention of working in partnership to reduce the flood risk."

The charity is to continue working in Cumbria following up on the hundreds of problems that have already been raised. They will also be available to support communities who want to form Flood Action Groups.

To find out more, phone the National Flood Forum’s helpline on 01299-403055 or visit www.nationalfloodforum.org.uk