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Thousands of people have been told to be ready to leave their homes as a tidal surge threatened to batter the east coast, bringing "extreme danger to life and property".The freak, 10ft rise in sea level was expected to breach coastal defences and could bring the worst flooding in 50 years. Gordon Brown chaired a meeting of the Government's Cobra emergency response committee last night as the Environment Agency warned that more than 10,000 homes could be hit. Conditions were likened to those preceding the floods of 1953, which surged two miles inland between the Tees and the Thames and claimed the lives of 300 people.The entire east coast stretching from Humberside to Kent was on alert last night.Police and local authorities were preparing to evacuate low-lying coastal areas of East Anglia and nine severe weather warnings were issued.The Environment Agency announced: "Severe flooding is expected. There is extreme danger to life and property."Residents were being issued with sandbags, advised to fasten doors, and prepare to move upstairs with food, blankets and torches.They were also told to fill baths and buckets with water for washing, and store drinking water in clean bottles.In London, the Thames Barrier and Dartford Creek were closed and householders along the Kent coast were also told to expect flooding.Barbara Young, the chief executive of the Environment Agency, said: "We are better prepared than 1953 and are better served by early warning systems.''But saying that, Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft are not well served by good flood defence systems. We are asking people to act now."The agency issued eight severe flood warnings, 12 flood warnings and 24 flood watches nationally, covering North Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and the north Kent coast.The severe warnings were in place from Great Yarmouth, where 8,000 homes are at threat, down to the village of Shingle Street, and on parts of the River Bure and River Yare.The high seas have been caused by a combination of a "storm surge" and a spring, or naturally high, tide.In this case, strong north-westerly winds generated by an area of a huge low pressure near Iceland are pushing water down the North Sea into the Strait of Dover, causing a bottleneck that raises the level of water.John Hammond, spokesman for the Met Office said yesterday: "An event like this probably doesn't happen even once in 20 years."The Environment Agency was predicting that the highest water levels would hit Immingham (Humberside) at about 4.30am and the East Anglian coast between 7am and 8am. There was also the possibility of flooding south of these areas as the tidal surge moved on.More than 200 pensioners in care homes in Great Yarmouth and other vulnerable people were evacuated from their homes last night, while 1,000 families living close to the River Yare were advised to move out if they had family and friends they could stay with.Residents in low-lying areas on the Suffolk coast were also advised to leave their homes. Special shelters for those planning to do so were being set up by local authorities at leisure centres in the towns of Lowestoft and Leiston, and at the town hall in Beccles.Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary, said: "The water is expected to be two to three metres higher than normal."The surge will come down from Hull down to Kent but it is Norfolk and Suffolk we're most concerned about."Mr Benn added: ''Where we have a combination of the surge with high tides is where we'll have the greatest risk."As in the days of Noah...
