It was just a few years ago when Worcestershire and much of the country was affected by severe flooding, leaving people homeless and facing a huge clean-up operation.

During the summer of 2007, our newsroom was on alert as we reported on the floods and how people had to deal with some terrible scenes of damage.

In my village near Worcester, we saw similar scenes. I had to leave my car miles from home and when I finally reached home, many of my neighbours’ homes had been badly damaged.

The nearby town of Tenbury Wells had three instances in just a few weeks where shops and homes were hit by the floods, leaving people to have to clean up again and again.

In January and February this year, the world saw Australia hit by some terrible flooding, along with Brazil and Sri Lanka.

It brought it all home to me that it didn’t matter what country you live in, flooding is devastating and it was only when it happened to you that you could fully appreciate the damage it could do.

Unprecedented rainfall in the central and eastern provinces of Sri Lanka continued for three weeks in January, wreaking havoc on the island and leaving more than 200,000 people displaced, seeking shelter in temporary camps.

Batticaloa district in the east has been the worst hit, receiving the equivalent of its annual rainfall in just a few weeks and affecting more than 530,000 people.

Transport and telecommunications across the district have been disrupted, more than 200 small and medium reservoirs have been breached and washed away and other tanks are spilling over.

But once the flood disappears, there is nothing more to see and the news moves onto the next story.

However, many hundreds of people are still left to clean up and deal with the aftermath, including many acres of crops that had been submerged in the flood water which will not be recovered and clean drinking water contaminated by the flood water.

My trip to Sri Lanka in February was an all-too-clear example of this, and newspapers were literally screaming out for help from the world as it was hit by two waves of flooding in less than a month.

The number of people affected in the country was calculated at more than one million and the concern was for the health of the people who were susceptible to problems, especially water-borne diseases.

An appeal by the UN for $51 million in flood aid had a poor response from donor countries, with Sri Lanka receiving just 27 per cent of the total package.

Dion Schoorman, group director of the charity World Vision Sri Lanka, said it was still a problem and that just because the rains had stopped and the flood waters receded, it didn’t mean the country was not still in need of help.

Mr Schoorman, who is a member of a Rotary club in Sri Lanka, said he was appealing to people and Rotary members across the world to help the northern parts of the country that were affected.

He said: “We are still looking for money on this. But help has been a little slow in coming forward.

“The message is that the rains have ceased and the flood waters have gone. The sun has come out and it is as hot as can be.

“But sadly, the sun will not give back what the waters have washed away. A lot of people around the world think that this is it now, no water so no help is needed.

“But the reality is that they are struggling. The rains are over but it’s not back to normal. The danger is now that this country is over-looked.

“Generations of work, of crops and wells that had clean water have been lost.

“People have lost their access to clean water. They have lost their homes, their crop, their cattle. School children have lost their books and all their school work, equipment.

“This is a huge problem and is going to have a huge impact around the country for many years.

“Firstly, we need help with the initial problems – clean water, giving them clean, dry clothes and shelter.

“But on from that, more than 2,000 acres of paddy fields have been lost and another 100,000 acres of agricultural land where fruit and vegetables were grown have also been lost to the flood water, so the food crop has gone.

"We are all going to feel this three of four months down the line when there is a great shortage of rice and vegetables.”

Mr Schoorman said that the re-building process of the houses, schools, hospitals and roads was going to be a slow, long process, and a lot of work needed to be done.

He said: “I am appealing to people for their help, from one Rotary member to another, from one person to another. Emergency relief will mean that they get clothes on their backs.

“But their wells are contaminated and need to be cleaned. These people need fresh water to live and survive.

“I don’t think people around the world realise the true devastation that Sri Lanka has suffered and I hope that someone, somewhere, is able to come forward and offer the help that these people need.”

Suresh Bartlett, World Vision Sri Lanka’s national director, said he believed it was one of the worst natural disasters to hit the country in recent times.

He said: “There is devastation everywhere. Many communities have lost their livelihoods and are desperately in need of food, water and other relief.”

To offer help, visit worldvision.org.uk