The exceptional month of storms has also brought a fierce battering of coastal defences. But through another "back to nature" approach, communities near Selsey and Bracklesham in West Sussex have survived unscathed. In November, in a "managed realignment", the sea walls were deliberately breached, letting the ocean back on to land and recreating saltmarshes. These now soak up the destructive power of the storms, better protecting the 350 homes beyond. Similar realignments are occurring along the coast of East Anglia.
In West Sussex, letting the sea back in has created a new RSPB nature reserve. The society's head of water policy, Rob Cunningham, says: "We are seeing a lot of knee-jerk responses to the current floods, seeking to return things to a 1960s state. But we have to adapt and progress into a world where this level of rain and storms is normal."
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