CITY council leader Steve Brady says lessons need to learned from this week's flooding in Hull.
In the aftermath of the flooding, the council was today continuing to asses the damage following the storm surge that saw record tidal levels of 5.8m in the city.
Cllr Brady said: "We can't just write it off as a one-off event or something that might happen every 50 or 60 years.
"What we experienced on Thursday night could happen again sooner than we think.
"What it has done is probably pinpoint where a few weaknesses might be."
It is believed Hull's tidal barrier, which opened in 1980 to protect the city from coastal flooding such as that seen in the Great Storm of 1953, prevented thousands of homes and businesses being damaged.
And Cllr Brady said making sure the city's flood defences were up to the job remained a priority.
"You only have to look at how the tidal barrier worked so well to realise how important good flood defences are," he said.
"The barrier did a fantastic job and I'm told that without it we could have been looking at 25,000 homes being flooded in the city.
"Going into the new year, we have to hammer home the message that we need the very best flood defences for Hull, particularly if we want to attract new businesses to the city.
"Seeing streets like Ferensway full of water really made you realise how close we came to a real disaster."
Cllr Brady said the response by public sector organisations to the storm surge along the Humber had been "magnificent".
"The close co-operation between ourselves, the Environment Agency and the emergency services was first-class," he said.
"We had obviously been through a similar experience in 2007 but everything worked well this time and I think the emergency services, in particular, were fantastic."
The flooding in the city centre in Castle Street and Ferensway has led some to question a proposed multi-million highway improvement scheme earmarked for exactly the same spot.
The current Highways Agency proposals involve lowering a section of Castle Street at the existing Mytongate junction under a new road linking Ferensway with Commercial Road.
Construction work on the long-awaited scheme is expected to start in early 2015 subject to a final funding go-ahead from the Government.
But Councillor Martin Mancey, the city council's cabinet member for transport, said: "I've heard some of the comments about the wisdom of lowering Castle Street but I think it's far too early to make a snap judgement based on what happened on Thursday night."
Council staff helped organise the distribution of sandbags on Victoria Dock and then co-ordinated the evacuation of elderly residents living in areas close to Ferensway, setting up a makeshift evacuation centre at Costello sports stadium as well as providing temporary accommodation at a nearby residential home and the Holiday Inn hotel in Ferensway.
The council-run Hull Arena in Kingston Street was among the buildings hit by flooding.
The ice rink is expected to be out of action for a week but the closure will not affect the Hull Stingrays, as the ice hockey team's weekend fixtures are away from Hull.
In the East Riding, council resources were split between keeping a watching brief on settlements along the Humber as well as the North Sea coast.
Nigel Leighton, director of environment and neighbourhood services at East Riding Council, said: "The council's emergency procedures were implemented and staff worked round the clock to get assistance to residents as soon as possible and deal with flooding.
"All our planning was in place but with coastal flooding you cannot predict with certainty where incidents will occur.
"Where they did occur, we worked alongside the Environment Agency on the ground to deal with any issues with sea and coastal defences."
Mr Leighton said services had been stretched across the area but had coped with the demand.
"Plans were put into place to maintain staffing and resources, including sandbags and pumping equipment, to respond as necessary yesterday," he said.
"The deployment of sandbags will continue to be targeted by operational teams to areas that are worst affected and where properties and the vulnerable are at risk. These will not be issued on a general basis."
The council's recovery team will continue to make door-to-door visits to affected areas over the weekend to provide residents with help.
