A PENSIONER in Rhyl said he had to evacuate his home after the flooding during Storm Babet left his house in “a right mess” and caused thousands of pounds’ worth of damage.
Eric Fogg, 79, has been staying at the Talardy Hotel in St Asaph with his wife since Friday’s (October 20) floods devastated their home on Llys Gwennol.
He was one of several residents of Llys Gwennol, and on the adjacent Maes-y-Gog, to be severely affected by the storm last weekend.
After a nearby culvert broke, Eric said, water came through his house’s front and back door, flooding the downstairs of his property.
Eric said: “There was two feet of water in the pantry, and on the carpet in the lounge. On the lounge carpet alone, we filled 15 tubs with rain water.
“All of the wooden floorboards have come up in the hall and the dining room. The kitchen was completely flooded, and some of the skirting boards are coming off.
“The downstairs toilet was flooded at the back, and all of the furniture is ruined.”
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Eric, who moved to Rhyl seven years ago after downsizing from his previous home in Manchester, said assessors are due to visit his property this week to survey the damage caused.
He added: “I've never had anything like this in my life. It was such a shock. It's a right mess.
“All of the stuff in our house was very, very expensive. We estimated it caused £30-40,000 of damage.”
Another resident of Llys Gwennol, Hayley Bardsley, shared the below photos of the damage the flooding caused to her property.
Noel Martin, a resident of Maes-y-Gog, said his house was largely unaffected, but recalled residents “pushing water out of their back gardens, onto the street”.
Some homes, he added, were “a good foot or more underwater” as a result of the rainfall.
Katee Houston, who lives alone at a property on Maes-y-Gog, said she was “massively grateful” for the help her neighbours offered her after her house was badly affected by the flooding.
She said: “My house was unfortunately flooded, and I only moved in a year ago, so haven't spoken to a lot of people on my street yet.
“Despite this, the help I received from my neighbours and people on the estate was absolutely heart-warming.
“I live on my own and by only a couple of hours in, I had 30+ people I have never spoken to helping me for five or more hours, trying to prevent the water from entering more of my house.
“I had people volunteering to go out to builders’ yards to get me sandbags, people setting up water pumps to get more water out.. it was the nicest thing I've ever experienced.
“I honestly cannot thank them all for all there help. I thought it was an amazing act of kindness.
“My house is getting better. The water got into my garage and the side utility room, and my front and back gardens were ruined.
“It got slightly into the porch, and the downstairs toilet was obviously bubbling from the pressure of the water.
“It’s just been massive clean-up process, which is still going on. I’ve had to take a few days off just to try to get a bit of order into the house, (but) I’m massively grateful.”
Another Maes-y-Gog resident said the amount of damage that the flooding caused her home left her facing “a weekend of flooding”.
She said: “I’m a lot further up the street than Llys Gwennol, and didn’t realise what was happening down the street as, I was trying to prevent water going in my home from the back which backs on to the brook.
“I’ve been in my home for 22 years and have never seen anything like it. My office was flooded, and water was up to the door.
“We used a pump that was on for five hours, until midnight, moving 8,000 litres an hour, which is approximately 40,000 litres back in to the drain.”
Cllr Brian Jones, who represents the Rhyl Ty Newydd ward in which this area is situated for Denbighshire County Council, praised the community spirit shown by residents last weekend.
He said: “It was an unprecedented weather event, and the amount of rainfall probably exceeded what was forecast.
“Having said that, it obviously highlighted the issues with the culvert which runs at the back of Maes-y-Gog, as the most serious flooding was on Llys Gwennol.
“The council were on the front line, doing the best they could across the county. It was fantastic to see the community spirit at Llys Gwennol.”
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