Samantha Knee, 13, and 15-year-old brother Tom behind the rebuilt garden wall. Their Perelle home flooded when the old one was knocked over by the sea a year ago. Tom’s motorbike was one of the casualties – along with two cars and pretty much everything on the ground floor. (Picture by Peter Frankland, 0736194)

A YEAR on and the Knee family are still sorting out the damage caused by the storm that rocked the island.

Their home on the Perelle coast road was severely flooded on 10 March 2008.

The sea breached their garden wall, sending water cascading into the house. Their son’s scooter and both family cars were written off and the entire ground floor of the house was damaged.

Although they were covered by insurance, it has taken them 12 months to get their house back to something that resembles normality.

They are still without a lot of furniture and their garden is a mess, ruined by all the water and stones brought over by the high winds and high tide.

Julie Knee, 40, recalled the night.

‘High tide was about 8.30 in the evening, but at 6.30pm the waves were coming over the house,’ she said. ‘We knew it was going to be a bad night.

‘At about 9pm we were helping next door as his big gate had been damaged by the tide. The fire brigade came and knocked his wall down at the back to try and let the water out but it was just as high in the fields behind, so there was nowhere for it to go.’