Aid agencies offer free building materials to those who will help clear up the dead conger eels, oil drums and concrete girders that litter newly drained parts of the town.

ECONOMIST: Lining up for a new life

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has spoken publicly about not attending the birth of his four children, claiming that he thought his sex life "would be damaged by images like something out of a sci-fi movie - skinned rabbits and conger eels coming at me from everywhere".

BBC: How it became almost mandatory for dads to attend the birth

'Fancy it having been wet sea here once, all sloppy and shiny, ' said Jane, 'with fishes and conger-eels and coral and mermaids.

NPR: Excerpt: 'Five Children and It'