Digital Media Manager HOWARD DAVIS reflects on the effects of the floods - both on the Net, and on his back garden.

Water week - to quote one of our sub-editors' more exemplary puns.

It all began with snow. Swirling flurries egged on by rising winds. An ominous portent of what was to come.

From then onwards North Yorkshire, and pretty much the rest of the country, has been dogged by floods of biblical proportions.

Even yours truly didn't escape. Evacuated Friday. Car ruined by three feet of water. Traumatised cats. The works.

And as the nation looked to York as one of the worst-hit areas, the Evening Press and This Is York strived not only to cover the ensuing mayhem, but also to bring the people of York and the surrounding area the most up-to-date information possible.

Information on roads closed, flood levels, Environment Agency flood warnings and reports on homes hit were posted continuously during each day. At times it got to the point that copy was coming almost as fast as we could upload it, with news stories changing from one minute to the next.

During the week, This Is York normally receives about 70,000 requests for pages. Last week, Monday to Friday, we received 176,315 requests, more than double the usual number, as the people of York turned to the Evening Press to answer any questions that they had on the situation.

When Tony Blair visited York on Thursday, November 2, the This is York team were there to greet him in person. Amidst the chaos, Evening Press Chief Reporter Mike Laycock presented the Prime Minister with a special report on our Save Ryedale from Flooding campaign, and a picture of the meeting was posted on to the site within 15 minutes of the encounter. Deputy PM John Prescott came up to Malton the following day to survey the damage. The tragedy showed the effect a local web site can have. No other site covered the floods in so much detail. No other site in the country had as much up-to-the-minute local information, or so many pictures and stories.

Even YorkGate, This Is York's very own e-soap, was flooded this week. Rail delays were also covered in detail, and the floods now have their very own mini-site with pictures from across the region.

If ever there was an example of how important and useful the Internet can be, this is it. And as the floods still cast a foreboding shadow into next week, the Evening Press and This Is York will ensure that up-to-the-minute coverage will always be available on www.thisisyork.co.uk.

The City of York Council web site also posts announcements on flood levels, and has handy tips on how to deal with flood devastation - www.york.gov.uk/whatsnew