Having been involved in several serious emergencies, I have noticed the way that both man-made and natural disasters bring out both the worst and the best in human nature.

We have just endured a winter that will long be remembered for the violent storms and seemingly constant deluges of rain leading to some parts of the country suffering widespread flooding.

Parts of our neighbouring county of Somerset have been covered in deep floodwater and the recovery process is still only in its early stages.

As people were forced out of their homes, businesses and farms by rising flood water, the blame game started. Few came through this buck passing with any credit as politicians, civil servants and quangocrats all struggled to avoid being viewed as culpable.

We have become a society in which people who have suffered a misfortune are encouraged to look for an opportunity to sue for compensation and, of course, the ‘ambulance chasing’ lawyers have to be responsible for this.

High on my list of the most despised folk connected with the flooding on the Somerset Levels are those who seized the chance to steal and engaged in looting some of the properties that had had to be evacuated. It is hard to find words harsh enough to condemn those who regard someone else’s personal disaster as an opportunity to thieve.

However, thankfully there is also a compassionate and generous side to human nature and this too has been on prominent display in the flooded areas.

Hundreds of people volunteered without being asked to travel to the floods and offer their help to the strangers whose property was under water. This entailed much hard work by many volunteers who asked for no recompense in any way other than the satisfaction of knowing they were helping bring support and much valued practical help to Somerset folk who were deeply afflicted by floods.

The appeal fund set up for the flood victims was quickly taking in lots of donations and I understand that the fund stands at over £1 million already. However, it is comparatively easy to give support and show sympathy by giving money but I take my hat off to the volunteers who gave so freely of their time and energy to assist with the clear-up and drying out operations on the Somerset Levels.

However, in my opinion the most heart-warming example of assistance being rendered to those in distress from the flooding has been set by the UK farming community.

The farmers in the flooded parts of Somerset first had to find temporary accommodation for their livestock and they then faced the serious problem of acquiring forage and bedding to replace the stocks that had been destroyed by the flood water. News of their plight went out on the social media and immediately a remarkable unsolicited response began to form.

Her Majesty the Queen set a good example by authorising surplus forage from her farms to be transported to Somerset and many other farmers followed suit. Soon, a temporary depot had to be set up as a collection and distribution centre for all the forage that was being brought to Somerset, some of it from farms a long way from the floods.

I saw one young farmer interviewed on TV who had driven a tractor and trailer for nine hours to bring forage from Shropshire to the collection centre. He neither received nor wanted any payment for the forage or the fuel. He merely commented that he knew that Somerset farmers would do the same for Shropshire farmers if they were ever in trouble. What a great example such farming folk set for the rest of us.