The 3.8 metre surge tide which was the highest ever recorded since records began in Littlehampton, was a freak event but with climate change and sea level rise this area can expect more of the same in the near future.
The local businesses have responded by raising their own flood defences without any financial assistance from any local authority.
West Sussex will be the first authority to actively assist in these new defences but more help in the form of financial aid is desperately needed.
The Rope Walk Flood Action Group commented that: "There seems to be tens of millions of pounds available for landscaping, and new paving stones but not a penny to be spent on flood defence work.
"They only seem to be interested in helping to clear up after a disaster rather than preventing the disaster in the first place.
"It seems utterly ludicrous to continue to spend money and time on disaster recovery when a few thousand pounds is all it would take to prevent that disaster in the first place."
