A devasted mum and her young family have been forced out of their home after heavy rain brought water gushing into their ground floor.

Amy Ribbans said it was 'soul destroying' to see the damage left by Friday's flash floods after the deluge swept through her Ormesby home, wrecking carpets, furniture and belongings.

Miss Ribbans was picking her nine-year-old daughter up from school when the downpour hit and returned home to Royal Oak to find water surrounding the building.

The 26-year-old said: 'I never imagined to come home and find what I did. It was four bricks up the house, it was just awful and still looking a mess now. I still can't get my head round it, the whole of the bottom of the house was destroyed.'

Miss Ribbans said the rainwater had become mixed with sewage when it swept into the ground floor, contaminating everything and leaving the house uninhabitable.

She, along with some other residents, is now being put up at The Grange Hotel in Ormesby by owner Jonathan Childs, who is also county councillor for East Flegg.

'We haven't got anywhere else to go,' Miss Ribbans added. 'It's really saddened me because I'd made it our home and our life, and it's just been ripped away in seconds.'

Friday's floods brought water gushing into homes in Hemsby, Ormesby and Winterton after roads, pavements and gardens were overwhelmed. Officers from Great Yarmouth Borough Council were yesterday knocking on doors in the streets known to have been affected, to find out more about people's situations and the circumstances of the flooding.

They also handed out application forms to the EDP Norfolk and Lowestoft Flood Appeal – set up after December's tidal surge – which has now been opened up to the region's latest flood victims.

Information gathered during the visits, which could continue today, will feed into the investigation led by Norfolk County Council to determine the cause of the flooding.

To apply to the EDP appeal contact the borough council.