Borth and Dolybont Flood Photos

I had a slightly more interesting run than usual this morning. On the way into Borth there seemed to be an unusual amount of emergency service activity and then when I go to the caravan site that I normally run through it was 6 foot underwater. There were coast guards, the RNLI, ambulances, Fire Brigade and Police everywhere and the RNLI helicopter was hovering overhead.

All part of a major rescue operation due to flooding in Borth and Dolybont. The River Leri has burst its banks and people have been evacuated from the caravan sites by dinghy and several people have been air-lifted to safety. It’s not looking good out there.

I’ve been into Dolybont and friends houses are flooded with water running straight through them. I’ve tried to contact them to help out and offer them a place to stay but so far have been unable to get hold of them. It looks as the emergency services are putting people up temporarily in the Youth Centre in Borth, so hopefully everyone is OK.

23 Responses

  1. Avatar forComment Author Alan says:

    Here’s the BBC News article on the floods:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-18361107

    Al.

    • Avatar forComment Author linda clayton says:

      hi i bought a caravan at riverside this year .i asked about flooding he said it never floods because of the sand dunes.can u tell me if this is right .thank you

      • Avatar forComment Author Alan Cole says:

        Hi Linda, are you sure you mean Riverside? That’s in Llandre so a few miles from the sand dunes and I’m pretty sure that park has flooded. The caravan park in Ynyslas behind the dunes is called Sea Rivers. It hasn’t flooded completely in recent years but the grass gets pretty soggy most winters to the extent that there is standing water for a couple of months. That doesn’t mean it won’t flood though as the road alongside it floods every year.

  2. Avatar forComment Author Alan says:

    Lifeboat Press Release:

    The RNLI’s Borth inshore lifeboat and specialist Flood Rescue Team have been deployed to help holidaymakers trapped in a flooded caravan site on the side of the River Lery near Borth.

    The volunteer crew of Borth inshore lifeboat launched at 4.30am this morning (Saturday 9 June) and the charity’s Flood Rescue Team was deployed at 6.15am and is expected to arrive at the scene at 10am.

    Borth inshore lifeboat launched onto the River Lery at Dol-y-Bont at the request of the Coastguard to Coastguard Rescue teams, Powys police, the ambulance service. The lifeboat launched to rescue a disabled man in a flooded caravan. The launch was requested as the RAF helicopter was 20 minutes flying time away.

    The disabled man was rescued by the Coastguard, so after assessing the situation, the RNLI crew secured their D class lifeboat at the river bank to stand by while people were evacuated from the site by helicopter and road. Those rescued were taken to Borth lifeboat station where they were given blankets and tea and assessed by paramedics.

    The force of the river current, with the amount of debris in the water, made returning to their original launch site too dangerous and once everyone had been evacuated, the crew decided to secure the lifeboat and were airlifted to safety by helicopter.

    The RNLI’s Flood Rescue Team was deployed at 6.15am this morning and are expected to arrive at Borth with a D class inshore lifeboat and Arancia rescue boat at 10am.

    The team, which is supported by Toolstation, is made up of volunteer crew and staff from the charity’s 236 lifeboat stations around the UK and Republic of Ireland. They are specially trained in swift water rescue and are available at 24-hours notice to deploy anywhere in the world where waterborne search and rescue is needed due to natural disaster.

  3. Hi Alan and Morgan,

    Great website, just came across you via twitter.

    We are in the process of buying a house close to Borth railway station. Wonder what is was like in that area>? The house is on the sea side of the railway track. Was that area flooded? Do you have any photgraphs?

    Thanks,
    Simon

    • Avatar forComment Author Alan says:

      Hi Simon,
      Most of Borth itself seems OK at the moment other than the caravan site down in the corner. The road to the Animalarium is flooded as could be the Animalarium itself, but it looks as though the houses along the seafront are OK.

      Lets hope they stay that way.

      Al.

    • Avatar forComment Author stephen says:

      Hi Simon, 6 years on and I’m thinking of buying a place in Lower Borth. What did you decide in the end? Are you still in Borth?

      Cheers

      S.

    • Avatar forComment Author Stephen Chapman says:

      Hi Simon, I’m no thinking of buying property in Lower Borth, what did you choose to do in the end? Any any regrets?

  4. Avatar forComment Author Alan says:

    Good news is that the rain has stopped for now and there’s even some blue sky on its way.

  5. Avatar forComment Author Alison says:

    Thanks for posting photos Alan – my dad is from Borth, so I appreciate these. Good thing the church is built on a bit of a hill (my grandparents / family are buried there).

  6. Thanks Alan, that’s a relief! Stay safe and keep the photo’s coming, it’s great to see them.

  7. Avatar forComment Author Alan says:

    Just been into Borth to drop off cakes and the flood waters are rising now that the tide is holding them back.

    Quite a bit of Borth itself is now flooded. All the area around the Community Hall are now flooded as is the road through Glanwern. It has stopped raining but more houses are being affected all the time.

    Al.

  8. Avatar forComment Author Charlotte Creen says:

    Our hearts go out to all the people of Borth and Dolybont, locals and holiday makers alike, and can only hope that the floods subside very soon.
    We are Shropshire people and absolutely love our Borth family holidays and we are shocked to hear about last nights events.
    Great blog, just came across it while googling to find news of the floods.
    Stay safe everyone.

    Charlotte and family

  9. Avatar forComment Author Anonymous says:

    Please remember us in ynyslas 🙁

  10. Avatar forComment Author Michelle says:

    Please remember us in ynyslas 🙁 we have a metre of water inside the house! and can’t see where the garden starts or ends!

    • Avatar forComment Author Alan says:

      Where in Ynyslas are you Michelle? We’re in Ynyslas as well and haven’t had any problems at all. Even the parts of the garden that flood fairly regularly have stayed dry. I guess you must be close to the Leri as the flooding all came from the river.

      Hope you’re all OK, it must be terrible having everything wrecked by the water. Has it damaged much?

      Al.

  11. Avatar forComment Author Marg says:

    Hi Alan! Just come across your blog whilst googling the floods hoping to find information on Searivers caravan site. We have had a static on the site for over 30 years and have never heard of it flooding. I wonder if you know how bad the situation is there? Our caravan happens to be on the bottom end of the site backing on to the estuary. I have tried contacting the site owner but as you probably know he owns the Riverside site and is very busy with the owners there. Any news good or bad is better than no news. Thanks Marg.

    • Avatar forComment Author Alan says:

      Hi Margearet,
      I haven’t actually been down to the caravan site, but we live along the same bit of road and everything is fine here 0 IN fact the bunkers on the golf course weren’t even full of water and they fill up fairly readily. The same was true for the bottom of the garden which often gets water-logged but was OK yesterday, so I can only assume that Searivers is OK as well… The water all came from the River Leri so away from the river is largely unaffected.

      Al.

  12. Avatar forComment Author Marg says:

    Thanks for your swift reply it is very reassuring! Keep up the good work. Marg.

  13. Avatar forComment Author Kelly says:

    Hi,

    Do you have any pics of the flooding around ty-mawr? and flooding on the salt marshes? I research in the area and am keen to find out what is happening.
    Thanks

  14. Avatar forComment Author linda clayton says:

    hi i bought a caravan at riverside this year .i asked about flooding he said it never floods because of the sand dunes.can u tell me if this is right .thank you . i havent asked this before that i know of

  15. Avatar forComment Author Charlie Priddy says:

    Helo! I’m looking to buy a house in Dol y Bont, can you remember how far the floods came to the north of the bridge? Or was it mostly the south that struggled? Many thanks!

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Alan Cole

Alan is a Freelance Website Designer, Sports & Exercise Science Lab Technician and full time Dad & husband with far too many hobbies: Triathlete, Swimming, Cycling, Running, MTBing, Surfing, Windsurfing, SUPing, Gardening, Photography.... The list goes on.

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