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LONDON - Thousands of homes in Gloucestershire should have water restored on Friday after emergency measures were installed by Severn Trent Water following flood damage to power sub-stations and sewage systems.
But the majority of the 130,000 homes left without running tap water earlier in the week will still have to wait up to two weeks before supplies are restored.
Severn Trent planned to feed 20 million litres a day of water into Tewkesbury, one of the worst affected towns, restoring mains water to 10,000 homes.
Authorities have come under criticism for its slow response to the floods, the worst in central and western England in 60 years, and the environmental committee announced an inquiry will be held in October.
Large swathes of the country have been left under water and at least eight people have died during a month of torrential rain.
The latest two deaths occurred when a father and son were found dead in a cellar of a rugby club in Tewkesbury. They are believed to have become overcome by fumes as they used a petrol-powered pump to clear the basement of water.
Forecasters said the weather should be drier on Friday, with only a few sharp showers, mainly over Scotland.
The Queen has made a private donation to the Red Cross' flood appeal, Buckingham Palace said.
In the past two months, Britain has experienced the heaviest rainfall since records began in 1766, leading rivers to burst their banks and causing widespread, severe flooding, with up to 10,000 people forced from their homes.
The country has not been so severely flooded since 1947, according to the Environment Agency.
The army is distributing 4 million bottles of water a day to residents.
Severn Trent has asked the government's emergency committee, Cobra, for more tankers and drivers to distribute the water.
Health experts warned people, especially children, to avoid flood water saying it might contain raw sewage hosting dangerous viruses and bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella.
The Health Protection Agency said the chances of contracting an illness were low but said there was a small risk of contracting a stomach bug from drinking contaminated water.
Insurers have said the combined cost of the June and July floods could top 3 ($7.77b) billion pounds. There is also expected to be a heavy impact on agriculture, with farmers warning that any more rain could affect harvests.
Milk shortages hit some areas with flooded roads making collections from dairy farms impossible. The rain brought harvesting of barley and rapeseed to a halt in many regions.
- REUTERS
