More than a hundred recommendations have been made to improve the way Norfolk responds to floods, after an investigation into how last year's devastating storm surge was handled.

While the report into last December's floods hailed much of the work done by organisations to cope with the emergency, council bosses said vital lessons must be learned.

The report, drawn up by officers at Norfolk County Council after debriefing meetings with various organisations and councillors, has highlighted a string of issues which hampered attempts to deal with the floods.

Among issues identified were:

• Key information, such as about evacuations, was not communicated properly

• Schools should have been closed on the day of the surge and not opened the morning after

• There was a 'lack of willingness' by some staff at Norfolk County Council to respond out of hours

• People relied more on social media, which was not always accurate, than on 'official' sources

• Councillors were not kept properly informed

• Rest centres were opened in areas where they were not needed - such as Acle, where not one person attended

• There were problems with mobile phones and blackberries not working in some coastal areas

The report puts forward 114 recommendations to improve the response if such a flood happens again.

David Collinson, assistant director for environment and public protection at Norfolk County Council, said: 'What the report is trying to convey is that, in terms of the operation, it was a success, as shown by the fact there was no loss of life.

'But we know the situation caused a lot of damage to property and as part of our statutory procedures we have carried out a very comprehensive review to capture the things that went well and the things which we need to improve.'

Among the recommendations is a proposal to look at whether flood sirens, scrapped in 2010, should be reinstated.

Marie Strong, Liberal Democrat leader and county councillor for Wells-next-the-Sea had campaigned to save flood sirens from the axe.

She said: 'Consideration should definitely be given to re-instating flood sirens, in specific places.'

Jonathon Childs, UKIP county councillor for East Flegg, said he remained 'at a loss' as to why his district, which he described as the 'soft underbelly of the east coast' was not deemed at risk on the night of the floods.

He said: 'To the north of my district and to the south of my district evacuation took place. There are serious issues still not resolved.'

Among positive actions identified in the report were: the good co-operation by the agencies involved; the reaction of the police, who brought in officers from outside Norfolk; the contribution of the ambulance service; and the recovery process, which was delegated to district councils.

The floods, on December 5 last year, saw hundreds of homes and businesses swamped with water as tides around the county's shores reached heights which eclipsed those of the fatal floods of 1953.

Areas such as Wells-next-the-Sea, Blakeney and Cley were swamped and there was substantial damage to property at Walcott, where some homes were destroyed. Over the border, Lowestoft also suffered.

Following the floods, the Eastern Daily Press set up the Norfolk and Lowestoft Flood Appeal to help and our readers raised a six-figure sum.

Money has, through the Norfolk Community Foundation, gone to those who needed it and some of the fund is also being used to help those affected by last month's flooding in Hemsby, Ormesby and Winterton.

The storm surge report will be discussed when Norfolk County Council's environment, development and transport committee meets on Tuesday next week.

The meeting will also discuss how £250,000 set aside to support coastal communities will be allocated.

• Do you have a story about a local council? Call reporter Dan Grimmer on 01603 772375 or email dan.grimmer@archant.co.uk