THE pictures of devastated homes, ripped up roads and vehicles up-ended tell the story of a few hours of mayhem on Sunday evening.

The floods which hit the small villages to the east of Thirsk were all the more frightening because of their unexpected nature. Whilst there have been minor incidents of localised flooding in the past, nothing on this scale has affected the area before.

Such is the scale of the damage wreaked on roads and bridges, officials can only guess at how much it will cost to repair the public infrastructure. What is clear, however, is that the county council - the authority with the greatest responsibility for these repairs - does not have contingency funds to cope with this sort of expenditure.

There needs to be acceptance at central Government level that the events of Sunday evening were truly exceptional and that by funding the repair work, it is not simply boosting already planned flood defence works.

There is also a case for some form of assistance for farmers whose uninsurable losses - principally crops awaiting harvest - may in some cases run into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The foot-and-mouth tragedy taught us that tourism can be hit disproportionately by the reporting of the disaster. Other parts of the country may have formed the opinion that North Yorkshire is off-limits. It isn't and that message needs to be publicised loud and clear.

Aspects of the tragedy we can all give thanks for is the fact that nobody lost their life and the way the communities pulled together in the face of adversity. There were acts of bravery and heroism last weekend but also many less spectacular gestures of neighbourliness and friendship which mean almost as much to those affected.