Floods in England have devastated communities and politicians have been criticised for a slow response. Yet religion is always there to offer support.
The British Floods
Britain is not often renowned for its excellent weather but this year has seen an unprecedented amount of rainfall which has caused devastation in Yorkshire, north-east England.
With the start of the Wimbledon tennis championship in London and the West Indies playing the England cricket team at different grounds across the country, the rain showed little sign of being kind. Tennis players were running for cover, sporting events were disrupted and the rain kept falling.
June was officially the wettest June for almost 150 years, with an average of 140mm of rain falling across England and Wales in just the 30 days.
Yorkshire Floods
The worst hit places were the West Midlands and Yorkshire. Yorkshire came out by far on top of the flood capital for the year and many parts of Sheffield and Hull were left under water.
Unable to cope with the amount of water, rivers burst their banks and flooded streets and houses. A section of the M1 motorway had to be shut because a reservoir was in danger of reaching full capacity and flooding on to peak time traffic.
In Hull, 17,500 homes were affected including at least 10,500 which had to be evacuated and thousands of people lost possessions.
Although the water level is now beginning to fall, there seems to be a low level of direct action by the government and Leader of Hull Council, Carl Minns, has claimed it is the "forgotten city" in the crisis, facing a bill which could well over £200 million.
The Religious Response
Although Government ministers have now started to visit the troubled area and pledged money, it is the local leaders and residents who have taken action themselves by setting up the South Yorkshire Flood Disaster Relief Fund. Residents have also been asked to donate unwanted furniture.
The Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu is due to visit watery Hull, meeting victims of the flood-hit city as well as clergy, church members and other volunteers who have been contributing to the relief effort.
He said, "The poorest, the most vulnerable people on very low incomes - when these things hit them, it hits them hard, and you just feel your soul is almost, as it were, wrenched out."
With feelings running high between locals and those in the Government, it has fallen to the likes of local clergy and the Archbishop to act as peacemakers. They can help offer support to the most vulnerable and hardest hit, yet continue their work without the high profile nature of others.
The visit has been low profile and the work has been a thankless task, except to those who are affected. For them, the welcoming hand of religion reaches out again.
