Rhyl floods clear-up begins as people rehoused

Council workers have joined homeowners as the clean-up continues in Rhyl after Thursday's floods

Fire crews remained at the scene through the night to pump water from flooded streets and properties

Rail services are still affected on Friday due to debris on the line like this at Mostyn, Flintshire

Some Rhyl residents have been rehoused after streets were flooded with sea water caused by a storm surge.

Denbighshire council has found accommodation for 35 people as others made their own arrangements.

ScottishPower says 350 properties are still without electricity.

Rail services are still affected including a section of track along the Dee estuary at Mostyn, Flintshire, where more than 200m of sea wall collapsed onto the line.

About 400 people were forced from their homes after areas along the coast near Rhyl were put on the highest state of flood alert for several hours on Thursday, including Talacre and Bagillt.

Denbighshire council says it is considering whether more investment is needed in the area to prevent the flooding from happening again.

Crews from North Wales Fire and Rescue Service remained at the scene overnight to continue pumping water from flooded streets.

Council workers are now removing debris, empting gullies and cleaning streets around Garford Road.

Thursday's storm and high tides caused flooding along the north Wales coast with Rhyl the worst hit.

Other parts of Britain continue to be affected on Friday.

RNLI volunteers using lifeboats helped rescue at least 25 Rhyl residents as huge storm waves crashed over the sea wall.

'Need to understand'

Natural Resources Minister Alun Davies, who has been visiting people in the worst affected areas along with Rhyl fire station on Friday, praised the work of the emergency services and the council.

"My heart goes out to the people who have been affected by this," he said.

"We need to understand why the sea defences were overwhelmed yesterday - the primary defences were overwhelmed and secondary defences breached.

"We need to understand why that happened as when we make further investments in flood defences here or anywhere else, we can make the sort of investments that make people safe."

An information centre at the community fire station will remain open over the weekend giving advice on housing and welfare issues and volunteers from the Red Cross will also be available.

'Health and welfare'

"We need to make sure that people have access to the right information, at the right time and in the right place," said Councillor David Smith, Denbighshire's cabinet lead member for environment.

"Those affected by flooding will now be thinking about the future and they will have a lot of questions about health and welfare issues."

Network Rail says the line between Chester and Rhyl will be closed until Tuesday because of severe damage to the flood wall at Mostyn.

Hourly services each way will run between Rhyl and Holyhead in both directions and buses will operate at the other end.

The line between Llandudno Junction and Llanrwst has also been significantly affected by the tidal surge and it is unlikely to reopen until Thursday or Friday next week.

Part of the A548 Rhyl Coast Road has been closed.

North Wales Police say extra patrols will remain in force to police properties affected by flooding.

Emyr Roberts, chief executive of Natural Resources Wales, said: "The combination of high tides and gale force winds yesterday caused the highest tides we have seen for more than 20 years.

"We are now focussing on supporting the communities affected, the emergency services and the local authority to help the area recover."