tHERE is nothing to celebrate about flooding, as the battered residents of Oxford will tell you.

But after a truly grim week, which brought back horrible memories of 2007, it is fair to say that we saw the very best of Oxford’s people at the very worst of times.

The sterling efforts of Environment Agency, police and fire and city and county council staff have already been rightly acknowledged.

Not so the city’s residents and workers, the majority of whom, to borrow a well-known phrase, kept calm and carried on with resilience and good humour.

As things hopefully return to normal, it would be good to capture some of that spirit and carry it forward.

Let’s not wait until disaster strikes to show the special stuff we’re made of.