In pictures: Storms and flooding cause chaos in Powys town

Just as the gale-force winds of Storm Eunice were on their way out of Powys on Saturday morning, down came a deluge of Storm Franklin rainfall on Sunday that saw the River Wye in Builth creep unnervingly towards record levels.

That record stands at 5.02 metres when Storm Dennis hit the town two years ago this month, beating the October 1998 record of 4.95m. The Wye peaked at about 4.9m at 10pm on Sunday night, February 20, as the river burst its banks and flooded out onto Church Street and caused chaos – one heavy goods vehicle tried to brave the deep water and got stuck, while Builth Fire Station were called out to around 17 incidents locally. Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service said it dealt with 100 flood-related calls in 24 hours over the weekend.

A rogue trampolie was caught flying through the air at the weekend. Pic John Morgan/PA

The town’s latest leisure facility suffered a double whammy of destruction. After work was completed on the new pump track just behind Builth Wells Football Club’s Lant Field home last week, Storm Eunice brought a tree crashing down across it and through security fencing on Friday afternoon – the track then flooded on Sunday evening when the Wye burst its banks, leaving it caked in mud and debris.

Llanelwedd was badly affected once more as the river lapped at the doors of the Llanelwedd Arms Hotel, while the Coop garage was damaged yet again and was shut on Monday; there is also a clean-up operation ongoing at Llanelwedd Church in Wales Primary School.

North Road Garage owners reacted quickly to move their fleet of Toyota show cars to the safety of the nearby Royal Welsh Showground – they suffered extensive flood damage two years ago.

A huge fir tree on the showground, meanwhile, was brought down by the winds, splitting near its base and tumbling down inside the Royal Welsh Show’s forestry area, narrowly avoiding taking out a wooden building. It is thought the tree was around 100-years-old.

“Thank you every member of staff, partner and customers who all helped us get everything moved this evening. From Eian, Helen and Jason,” said North Road Garage on the company’s Facebook page on Sunday evening.

“Cars moved to showground for safe keeping.”

The Groe car park and Builth rugby pitch were flooded, although the water had subsided by Monday morning.

A lorry got stuck in the floodwater, showing how deep the floodwater was

Natural Resources Wales said: “At 8am, the level at Builth Wells was 3.5 metres and falling. A peak level of 4.9 metres occurred at 10pm yesterday (Sunday).”

Powys County Council's highways, transport and recycling service added: “The Wye at Builth Wells now appears to be receding thankfully (for now). It came close to record levels. The flood warning remains in force.”

Builth Wells Town Council announced on Monday that the Groe toilets would remain closed for the next few days due to the flooding.

Meanwhile, the town’s tourist information centre will require another revamp to repair flood damage – it reportedly had £10,000 spent on it the last time the floods caused havoc in Builth.

Carer Nellie Edwards was glad of the help of local residents on Sunday night after she and her dog found themselves stranded.

“Many thanks to the local people of Builth who helped myself and my dog who were stranded last night due to the floods,” she posted on the Builth Wells Advertising Facebook page.

“As a carer it's a nightmare travelling on the roads but the Hampton Hotel in Llandrindod put us both up for the night.”

Roads in and out of town were closed across the weekend, with Builth bridge closed at one point before reopening early on Monday. The A470 between Builth and Erwood also reopened on Monday, as did the A483 between Cynghordy and Builth.

Finally, a rogue Builth trampoline made national headlines over the weekend. The image of the child’s trampoline being tossed around by the wind above the Western Grove area of town was captured by John Morgan.