According to the Prime Minister, the Government will fully reimburse councils for the costs of dealing with flooding.
David Cameron was speaking at the De Ferrers Academy in Burton, Staffordshire, and said there were some levels of rainfall that it was "extremely hard" to protect against.
Storm Desmond saw some parts of Cumbria hit with 341mm of rain - more than a month's worth - in 24 hours which has left more than 2,000 homes and businesses flooded.
Mr Cameron said: "First of all our hearts must go out to families who have been driven out of their homes by flood water, many of whom will have had a very worrying 48 hours stuck in their homes and I think the emergency services have done a brilliant job.
"What we must do now is make sure everything is done to help in this vital phase of dealing with the floods.
"Then there's the vital recovery phase where we need to try and help people get their insurance claims and help people get back into their homes.
"We should sit down again with the Environment Agency and look at the flood schemes that have been built, look at the ones that are planned... and ask what can we do, what's in the plan for the future and how does that need to change."
He added Environment Secretary Liz Truss will announce later today that the Bellwin scheme will "kick in".
He said: "That's the scheme where central Government reimburses local authorities for their costs in dealing with floods."
The Bellwin scheme was previously used to help with the clear up from widespread flooding in southern England in 2013-14.