Sir - While I suspect that the Environment Agency may have done a spectacularly good job in minimizing flood damage in terms of flood water flow control, the same cannot be said of its performance in terms of information outreach.

When I accessed that part of the agency's website relating to the segment of the Thames between Eynsham Lock and Sandford Lock, I found that I was looking at exactly the same bulletin that was posted nearly 48 hours ago. Moreover, all that the website actually tells you, whether up-to-date or not, is that serious flooding is a threat to life and property, and that one should "act now".

May I suggest that the Environment Agency spend a little money updating their website every two hours, providing specific information as to expected conditions in respect of rates of water level increase and timing. One cannot expect perfectly accurate information, of course, but even approximate information would help householders to anticipate what they are having to defend against.

Another point: people living on the south coast can have waterproof doors and window frames fitted, to protect their houses against surge tides and sheets of spray. Such measures don't protect against prolonged inundation on the scale experienced at Tewkesbury, but they might very well keep out a 12-hour surge as experienced on the Abingdon Road. Why aren't they available here? It appears impossible to find a map of southern England representing the countryside in terms of river catchment areas and it is really quite difficult to know whether floodwaters in the Vale of Evesham, for instance, are headed our way.

Simon King, Oxford