More than half a century since floods devastated Canvey, residents who lived through that fateful night are preparing to share their memories with the younger generation.

The island bore the brunt of the storm tide surge, which swept across the east coast of England from the North Sea on the night of January 31 to February 1, 1953.

Many of the island's 11,000 residents were evacuated to safety in a huge rescue operation, but 59 people on Canvey lost their lives as sea defences were breached, plunging homes under water.

Survivors of the catastrophe are set to visit children at South Benfleet Primary School tomorrow, the 54th anniversary, to relive their experiences.

The tea and talk session for Year 4 was organised to help with the pupils' current history project on this eventful chapter in Canvey's past.

Benfleet resident and retired languages teacher Susan Downer, who is due to take part in the afternoon, was 11 years old when the floods unexpectedly struck the island just after midnight.

She said: "I can remember the night before the storm. There were very strong winds - we all commented on that before we went to bed.

"I was woken up by my mother who had heard sirens and thought there was a fire next door.

She stepped out of bed straight into water," she said.

"My father hunted around for a torch, then looked to see when the next high tide was.

"We watched the water level on the tiles of the fire place. My parents put my younger brother and sister on the bed, while I helped to pull our furniture and television onto the dining room table."

The family watched as their chicken shed floated past the window of their house in Bramble Road.

They eventually left their home - Mrs Downer clutching their budgie in its cage - and climbed into a rowing boat at the end of their street, before being transported off the island.

Mrs Downer's father, who was a chemist, had to make daily trips back to administer medicines to the many people who refused to leave.

The family lived with friends at Vicarage Hill for three months before eventually returning to their home.

South Benfleet Primary School was used as a rest and clothing centre for those with no accommodation.

People across the country, and even from overseas, sent goods and set up funds to support those caught up in the flooding.

Mrs Downer said: "When I was 11 it was all quite exciting and an adventure. I didn't really appreciate the efforts my parents had to go to sort out the sopping mess."

The mother-of-two recalled that despite their lucky escape, others were not so fortunate and she knew of one family who spent the night on their roof and whose grandmother died trying to escape the floods.

Talking about the school's project, she said: "It is part of our local history and it's important to know what happened. There are a lot of people like me who remember it.

"With climate change, the children have got to realise these things occur. The tsunamis were disastrous, this was something smaller, but it happened to us."

County and borough councillor Ray Howard was also at home with his family in North Avenue when water suddenly flooded their house.

He said: "My sister woke up and said she could see and hear water gushing down the street.

"Fortunately, we were one of the few families who had a house on Canvey. If we'd been in a bungalow we would have been in serious trouble.

"We had five or six feet of water in the house."

The family was also evacuated by rowing boat then taken by army lorry to King John School, Thundersley, where they met the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret, who visited the flood survivors.

He said: "We were getting news back to us all the time and it was devastating to hear what had gone on across Europe."

In 1983, 30 years after the floods, Mr Howard, the longest-serving member of the regional flood defence committee, watched as Canvey's new flood defences were unveiled to protect the island from future strife.

South Benfleet Primary School teacher Laura Tanner said the project had captured the children's imaginations and they had been busy researching the floods at home, talking to their grandparents and neighbours.

She said: "The children are really looking forward to the talk and have been looking through old photographs and documents," she said.

"It's one of the biggest natural disasters we've had in this country since the Second World War.

"A lot of people remember what happened and we thought it was important to keep those memories alive. They are our primary sources for what happened during that night."