Mrs Sutton
Around 10.30 on Monday 26 February 1990, Mrs Sutton was having coffee with friends when she saw the workmen who were building new houses nearby running down the road.
"I thought they'd hit the water main, but it was sea water as the sea wall had been breached. It was very strange - it was a lovely day but the winds were really high.
The floods got much worse than it looks in the pictures. We were evacuated by the time the water was at its highest, after the high tide. The police and army dealt very well with the situation.
When we were eventually able to return, on the Friday, the after effects were awful. The worst thing was the smell of the water in the house. All the wooden furniture had to be dumped, and the walls replastered half way up. There were long queues at the furniture shops.
We couldn't eat anything that had been grown in the garden because of the sea water contamination - but the roses did very well that year!"
The Prince and Princess of Wales flew in to see the damage."
