CAMERA Insight: Zak Waters - Datchet: The Calm After the Storm

An insight into the village of Datchet, Berkshire a few days after floods of February 2014.

The floods of February 2014 transformed the Berkshire village of Datchet into one of the most severely affected communities along the River Thames. Following weeks of exceptional rainfall, the Thames reached its highest levels for decades, overwhelming roads, homes and public spaces throughout the village. Datchet's location on the Thames floodplain, together with the prolonged nature of the flooding, meant that many residents faced evacuation while emergency services, volunteers, the Armed Forces and the Environment Agency worked to protect properties and maintain access through temporary flood defences and large scale pumping operations.

Recorded only a few days after the flooding, this film captures a community at the beginning of a lengthy recovery rather than during the peak of the emergency itself. Although water levels had begun to recede in some areas, damaged homes, disrupted infrastructure and the effects of prolonged inundation continued to shape everyday life. The events at Datchet became one of the defining examples of the winter 2013 to 2014 floods, highlighting the vulnerability of settlements built on the Thames floodplain and prompting renewed discussion about flood resilience, river management and the long term challenges facing communities living alongside one of Britain's largest rivers.

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