The floods came suddenly and violently 12 months ago.

See also: The devastating floods – one year on

The devastating floods of 2007, which took place a year ago yesterday, caused damage running into tens of millions of pounds and lasted for nearly two months.

The floodwater wrecked four Shropshire bridges, many local roads and a railway line. It left people homeless, led to the closure of businesses, devastated the agricultural economy and caused human misery on an unprecedented scale in the area.

But, one year on, Shropshire’s residents and businesses are united in their determination to make sure it does not happen again.

Experts have worked with ordinary members of the public to draw information and experience together to achieve the best possible outcomes for everyone.

Environment workers have teamed up with farmers to clear culverts and riverbanks. Now, more than ever, Shropshire is equipped to deal with the worst of the elements.

The most dramatic symbol of last summer’s flooding was the collapsed Burway Bridge, in Ludlow. It had genuine poignancy.

Now, however, the area where the bridge once stood, is an area of regeneration. Teams of workers are busily constructing a new £1 million structure, that has been designed to withstand weather conditions more atrocious than those experienced last year.

Councillor Martin Taylor-Smith, Ludlow’s floods supremo, said it had symbolic meaning and represented the county’s recovery from the trauma of 2007.

One resident who heard the fateful moment when Burway Bridge collapsed is Rosemary Wood. Her home, at Lower Corve Street, in Ludlow, overlooked the structure.

She remembers: “We’d experienced the flooding from 9pm, but the water had stopped rising. At midnight, the water was at the roof of the bridge and it could rise no further. So the only way it could go was down. That’s what it did. It gouged out a scour hole 20ft deep. The water completely undermined the bridge’s foundations.”

Rosemary says: “At about 2am, we heard a sound. There’d been so many strange noises all night, that we didn’t get up. But it was obviously the bridge cracking and being washed away. Then, soon after, there was a bang, bang, bang on our door.

“I went downstairs and there were emergency crews saying we had to evacuate, the bridge had collapsed, the gas main was broken and the whole area was at risk of explosion. ”

Rosemary Wood epitomises the spirit of Shropshire. She’s been doing more than her fair share to get things back on track. She adds: “We all love Corve Street and think we’re privileged to live here. We’re working as a street, for the future. We wouldn’t give up because we love where we are and it’s been worth fighting for.”

The Severn Valley Railway has been given a new lease of life, after suffering £3.5 million worth of damage. John Leach, spokesman for the railway, says: “The response from the public, the volunteers and the staff – in fact, from everybody connected with the Severn Valley Railway – has been phenomenal.”

There is a belief that Shropshire won’t suffer again as it did in June and July last year. Rosemary Wood adds: “We are absolutely determined that it won’t happen again. We will be doing lots to make sure of that. We will walk the water courses every 18 months with the Environment Agency to make sure they are clear. We will push for Government funding for preventative schemes. The floods of 2007 changed our lives. Now we need to be on a watching alert. Everyone has to work together.”

Across the region, that is precisely what people are doing.