WHEN the water came rushing into her home Marlene Fowler was left stranded in an upstairs bedrooms. The 80-year-old of Mayes Lane, Little Oakley, was 20 at the time and living in Fernlea Road with her husband and 20 month old baby.

"When dawn broke and you could see, we looked out of the window and the fire engine was abandoned outside the pumping station,” she said.

“The water was high. “It was 18inches in our bedroom, which was the back bedroom in the house. “I think it was 9am in the morning when they were getting us out of the houses in boats. “It was terrible."

*For more of Marlene's story and other victims of the flood read the Standard's 8-page anniversary special tomorrow.