‘Like a sea out there’: flooded Somerset residents wonder how water can be managed

People in south-west mop up after Storm Chandra and prepare for next bout of rain, with major incident declared

In the early hours, the Wade family's boxer puppy began barking. Thinking it needed to be let out, they traipsed downstairs and opened the back door - to be greeted not by their neat garden but an expanse of water.

It was like a sea out there," said James Wade. Over the coming hours the water crept into their home on a modern estate in Taunton, forcing James, his wife, Faye, and their three children, six, 11 and 12, out and into emergency accommodation.