With despair written on their faces, Christopher and Donna Manning surveyed a scene of devastation yesterday at their rented Sandys Parish home.

Ruined clothes, shoes, furniture, curtains and carpets lay scattered about them -- the legacy of being flooded by up to 10 inches of rainwater on Saturday night.

And last night it emerged Government may be forced to pick up the damage bill.

"Even our children's Christmas toys were wrecked, and they've been unable to go to school since they've nothing to wear,'' said mother-of-two Mrs. Manning.

"We are all devastated, and have moved temporarily into our old landlord's property.'' Now the couple face further heartache -- fighting to get reimbursement for the $21,000 worth of belongings they have lost.

Mrs. Manning, 30, said the flooding occurred because Government apparently had failed to put up a wall behind the property off Duerden Lane. The wall would have prevented rainwater pouring into their home from Government-owned land, she added.

She believed the matter should now be taken up by their landlord, Mr. Melvin Roberts, with Government. "I think we should be reimbursed,'' she said, adding: "At the moment we are in the dark, and don't know where we stand. We are getting in touch with a lawyer for some legal advice.'' Mrs. Manning said she and her 31-year-old husband had no current contract with Mr. Roberts -- the last one expiring about a year ago -- and the contents of the building were not insured..

"I don't see how we can be responsible for what happened. There should have been a wall.

"We've learned it's not the first time the property has been flooded. It happened before in 1978.'' The couple moved into the apartment two-and-a-half years ago when they got married. Their monthly rent comes to $1,000.

Yesterday, Mr. Roberts said he had discussed the matter with Sandys South MP Walter Lister, but declined to comment further.

The flooding occurred during the heavy weekend rainstorm which hit the Island with winds packing gusts of up to 63 mph.

Firemen spent four hours pumping water out of the low-level property.

A desperate salvage operation could only recover a few of the couple's belongings. Some of the ruined items belonged to Mr. Roberts.

Mrs. Manning said the alarm had been raised by her seven-year-old son, William.

"He was in the bathtub, when water started pouring in through the window. He was shocked and came running naked into our room saying `Mom, water is coming into the house'.

"We tried to grab as much stuff as possible and ran out of the house. We managed to save our TV and stereo equipment.'' She added furniture was floating in water during the worst of the flooding.

"The Fire Service said they couldn't get here right away because they only had two trucks and were busy.

"It took an hour for them to get here, but they did a really good job pumping out the water.'' Last night Mr. Lister, the Opposition Progressive Labour Party's Special Assistant Technology and Information, voiced sympathy for the Mannings' plight.

"I went to their property on Sunday morning, and the scene was dreadful really.

"The situation is that the water from the eastern side of the property drifted over and down into the apartment.

"It appears to have come from land adjacent to the property, and we are trying to make sure it doesn't happen again.'' Mr. Lister said he had raised the matter with engineers from the Works & Engineering department. And he was trying to arrange a site visit with one of the engineers.

"As you are aware we are coming up to the rainy season and we don't want a repeat performance.

"It's a tragic loss to Mr. and Mrs. Manning and also to the owner of the house, who has responsibility for cleaning it up and putting everything right.

"From what I understand there is no insurance on the contents of the building. It would be the responsibility of the tenant to have contents insured.'' Mr. Lister, however, believed Government may be liable.

"The Mannings have been affected and it's not their fault. At present we don't have all the facts.'' He added the Mannings were not the only people hit by the rainstorm, pointing out he had also taken up the case of a resident in Sound View Road, Somerset.

"His downstairs apartment was badly damaged.'' DEVASTATED -- Mr. Christopher Manning, his wife, Donna, and their children, William, seven, and two-year-old Christina, who are trying to pick up the pieces of their lives after their home was swamped by floodwater.