"My dad is keeping his spirits up, it's just a good job my mum is in hospital with a broken leg because I don't think she could cope with another flood," said Ann Scurry.

She and her husband, John, were making their way along a submerged Derwent Close in Norton to the house of her 81-year-old father, George Harper.

"We've spent the night shifting all his stuff upstairs and we've rescued his dog, and his chickens. He now wants us to get his cat; he says he won't leave the house until he knows she is safely away from the water."

George, lying in bed in the first-floor bedroom keeping warm after braving the waters, says he is already resigned to the fact that he will be spending the next eight months away from his home while the flood damage is put right.

"Well, there's nothing you can do. I just waited for it this morning; I knew it was coming. I've cracked the brandy open to help keep me warm - do you want some?," he offered.

Other residents were still coming to terms with the fact that the ground floors of their homes are under water.

Pensioner Peter Mooring and his wife, Phyllis, who suffered a stroke because of the stress of the floods last year, were waiting patiently upstairs for rescuers.

The ground floor of their home in Welham Road, Norton, was submerged in more than a foot of water with levels rising.

"I honestly didn't believe it would happen again after the last time," he said.

"We were away from our house for nine months after the last flood; we only moved back in after Christmas and we were still decorating and getting the house back to normal.

"My wife is quite stressed, but we're resigned to the floods now. We knew the waters were coming, but we just went to bed. We were woken up at about 3am when the phone went off. It made a right racket, but we managed to get a few more hours in before we got up.

"We're going to stay at my son's house in Norton away from the water."

As the couple were talking to the Evening Press, firefighters arrived and shouted up to Mr and Mrs Mooring, "Are you ready then?".

The firefighters made a chair by linking arms and carried the couple out, one after the other, to a waiting boat moored to their garden gate.

Further up Welham Road, Steven Monks was getting his family ready for an evacuation.

The floodwaters had not yet entered his house, but he had worked through the night to move all of his furniture upstairs to safety - all that remained in his living room was a lone Evening Press "Save Ryedale from Flooding" campaign poster tacked to his front window.

"I am angry the Environment Agency have done nothing since the last time," he said.

"I fully back the Evening Press campaign because something needs to be done. We can't have this every time it rains a few days in a row.

"It all boils down to money; they just won't spend it to put things right."

Later yesterday morning the battle to keep the water at bay at Mr Monks's home was lost and the ground floor of his home was swamped.

Dawn Williamson, of St Nicholas Street in Norton, was also waiting for the water to seep over her front doorstep into her house.

"We've been told it's going to come in later this morning and there is nothing we can do," she said.

"I am disgusted with the Environment Agency; they seem to spend all their time doing feasibility studies but never actually get anything done.

"They've had more than a year to take action but what have they done? - nothing.

"We've only just finished decorating after the last floods - it cost us somewhere in the region of £70,000 to repair all the damage from the last time.

"Now it looks like we're going to have to move out yet again. I think heads should roll for this. I am livid."

After spending more than an hour wading through Norton's floodwaters, the chill was started to creep up my back.

Ann Scurry who was carrying her father's, now caged, cat told our reporter to ,"get yourself home son, before you catch your death."