A big clean-up operation is underway as flood-stricken Britain counts the cost of the ‘Wild Wednesday’ deadly storm.<br /><br />The armed forces have been drafted in for relief efforts after gusts of over 160 km per hour lashed western England and Wales.<br /><br />Floods have devastated some areas for weeks and rising water levels are continuing to cause misery.<br /><br />In Wraysbury in the southern English county of Berkshire, villager Jonathan Swift escaped from his flooded house, with his pregnant wife. <br /><br />“It rose very, very quickly in the early hours. Maybe about three or four o’clock,” he said. “We woke up in the morning. It was flooded completely.”<br /><br />Parts of the River Thames are said to be reaching their highest level in 60 years. <br /><br />Many waterlogged residents in Wraysbury have found shelter in the local primary school.<br /><br />“I have three young children and they are all at different houses,” said flooding victim Bea Evans. “One is with family, one is with friends and one is with a sister. So no children in the house. It is very dangerous. The water is very, very dirty.”<br /><br />At least one person died in Wednesday’s storm, there was major disruption to the transport network and tens of thousands of homes are still without power.<br /><br />The British army officer leading the flood recovery efforts has described it as “an almost unparalleled natural crisis”.<br /><br />British Prime Minister David Cameron has promised that “money was no object” in the relief effort. <br /><br />While Thursday was much calmer, national media forecasts say that three more big storms will hit Britain in the next week – the first of them is due on Friday.
