The Prince of Wales has said the “tragedy” on the flood-hit Somerset Levels is that “nothing happened for so long”.
Prince Charles made the remarks as he met local residents, farmers and emergency services personnel who have been affected.
He pledged a £50,000 donation to support flood victims, with the Duke of Westminster matching the funding.
Charles, known as the Duke of Rothesay in Scotland, was recorded making the comments during a reception for 80 people in Stoke St Gregory.
“There’s nothing like a jolly good disaster to get people to start doing something,” he said. “The tragedy is that nothing happened for so long.”
The £50,000 funding will come from the Prince’s Countryside Fund, of which Charles is patron.
He braved heavy winds, flooded roads and rain to attend the 45-minute reception, providing a “much-needed boost” to the local community.
Dozens of schoolchildren, residents and campaigners greeted him in the village.
Communities in the area have been cut off by the waters, with major roads closed.
More than 128,000 acres have been deluged, at a huge cost to local farmers.
About 40 homes have been flooded and some 200 houses are cut off.
Speaking after the reception, Charles Hignett, chairman of the Country Landowners and Business Association’s Somerset Branch, said farmers on the Levels appreciated the royal support.
“He has a great interest in farming and rural communities and for him to come and visit us is something we are very grateful for,” he said.
There is widespread anger in the area at what many residents feel has been a slow response from the authorities to the flooding, which has seen many people cut off for weeks.
During yesterday’s visit, the prince went to a pontoon at Huish Episcopi to catch a boat that is ferrying residents to two villages that have been cut off.
Charles was greeted by dozens of residents when he arrived in Muchelney.
Later, Prime Minister David Cameron’s official spokesman was asked to respond to the prince’s comments: “The prime minister has repeatedly said that the situation that a number of communities in the Somerset area find themselves in is unacceptable.
“That’s why the government is working so closely with the Environment Agency, the local authority and other agencies to do as much as we can to help those communities.”