The worst floods for years hit Sussex with a vengeance this week with three inches of rain yesterday coming on top of unusually heavy falls in the previous week.

There was alarm when one man was swept away and chaos caused when railway lines, roads and some buildings went under water. But most people in the county showed great spirit in coping with the crisis, clearing up floodwater where possible and trying to keep services going as normal.

They range from firefighters working day and night trying to pump water away to those unsung heroes, the street sweepers, struggling through deluges to remove rain-sodden refuse.

Are there lessons to be learned? These were exceptional floods. They were certainly the worst since 1987 in most of Sussex. In some areas, rainfall was the heaviest since 1960 and one firefighter described the storm as the sort you only get once a century.

It could be that global warming is leading to these storms arriving much more often than that, leading to the need for wider precautions.

Certainly in areas prone to regular flooding, such as Uckfield town centre and Bevendean in Brighton, serious thought needs to be given to spending large amounts of cash on preventative measures.

They will still be cheaper in the long run than having to pay for clearing up the mess every time it rains hard.

We could still have worse to come. This year's weather patterns are uncommonly similar to those of October 1987. And no one in Sussex needs reminding what happened then.