Jean Powell spent ten months living inside a Wetherspoons hotel room in Monmouth before dying in September without ever returning to her flooded flat.
The 95-year-old was forced from her home in the early hours of 15 November when the River Monnow burst its banks during Storm Claudia, reaching 18 times its normal level. The disaster occurred after almost a month’s worth of rain fell in just 24 hours, triggering a major incident.
The event was officially classified as a one-in-75-year flood that swamped more than 400 properties in the Welsh town and overwhelmed local defences that had been built 35 years previously to protect the town centre.
Neighbours had hammered on Jean Powell’s door to evacuate her to safety as the rising waters swamped the town, sending her on a refuge that would last nearly ten months in the town’s main square. As the months went on, Wyn said that living in a single room proved awful for her friend, adding that once Jean became ill, it was simply not a suitable place for her to reside.
“Jean used to say, when am I going home?” said friend and neighbour Wyn Smith.
“The Wetherspoons staff were brilliant with Jean, they'd take her food and really looked after her,” said Wyn Smith. Her health deteriorated after she fell ill, and she unfortunately never made it back to her residence.
Powell’s death marks a personal toll as the community deals with the aftermath, while residents across her Chippenham Court retirement complex found their flats heavily impacted by the floodwaters. Other residents from the complex have stayed with family, in rented accommodation, in an Airbnb, or in a care home while a £1m refurbishment is completed, with the first individuals due to return in the coming weeks.
Elsewhere in the town, other families have faced severe disruption. The Frost family, who were evacuated by lifeboat after previously experiencing a flood in 2020, spent six months living in nearby rental accommodation while ripping out the downstairs of their home to start over.
Emily and Jake Frost kept their boys away for quite some time to prevent them from seeing their treasured belongings destroyed, noting that the children have been trying to process their ordeal through “playing floods” and still ask if it is safe when it rains.
Similarly, Jennifer Morgan, aged 70, described her experience as an absolute living nightmare after a year of poor sleep, stating that she will remain very apprehensive upon receiving future flood alerts and does not feel safe in her own house.