HOMEOWNERS are still facing up to the aftermath of last week's severe flash flooding.

As floods subsided Powick residents returned home to start counting the cost of ruined fittings, equipment and furniture.

One of those hit the hardest was Chris Wreghitt, who runs his bicycle and fitness export agency Global Opportunities from his home at Powyke House.

Although he managed to remove the master computer from his back-garden office, he has lost countless papers, files and samples, and believes it could take up to a month to get things running as usual.

"The water came over like a tsunami, you could hear the noise and see it coming closer towards you," he said. "We got the computer out but everything left in there is just gone, and while I should be able to get the business functional within a week it's a little disruptive."

Together with wife Wendy and children Sam, Katie and Jack, Mr Wreghitt had tried to defend their house using home-made sandbags of bin liners filled with soil.

But this proved fruitless as the floods found their way in, wrecking kitchen appliances and completely submerging a cellar used as a pool and television room.

"We were probably quite fortunate as we saw what might be about to happen and had four or five hours to prepare and take evasive action," he said. "For others the first they knew about it was when the firefighters knocked on their doors at 2am."

Hereford and Worcester fire and rescue teams moved from a response to recovery phase on Monday after a relatively quiet weekend. However chief fire officer Paul Hayden issued an ongoing safety warning.

"Safety remains the key consideration for the public during clean up and recovery," he said. "Flooded areas continue to have risks and dangers associated with them, and I would urge people to take care."