St. Michael and All Angels Church in Tirley, Gloucestershire, has bounced back after being hit hard by Storm Henk earlier this year. Despite facing flooding in January, the church is now back in business and ready for Easter, thanks to the hard work of its staff.

Storm Henk caused chaos across England and Wales with flooding, strong winds, and power outages. Tirley, near Tewkesbury, is no stranger to flooding, but this time the church was particularly affected.

Katherine Creese, the church warden, said, “We’re very fortunate that we’re back.”

The village is close to the River Severn, which often floods. Despite preparations, the flooding this time was worse than expected.

“We always stack furniture and objects up high,” Ms. Creese explained, “and we had flood gates in place, but the water levels went beyond what we’d planned for.”

“We can never really relax,” she continued. “The water completely engulfs us from all sides. It can take two or three days before we even know it’s coming.”

Despite the challenges, the church managed to reopen just in time for Easter with a service on Maundy Thursday. While some finishing touches are still needed, like painting, the community was thrilled to have the church open for this special time of year.

“It was so important to have it open again at Easter,” Ms. Creese added. “It’s such a special time of year, and we’re grateful to be able to celebrate it together.”

The reopening of St. Michael and All Angels Church is a testament to the resilience of the community, showing that even in the face of adversity, they can come together and overcome challenges.