Staff from a North Wales care home braved floods to make sure residents were safe when the River Elwy burst its banks in St Asaph recently.

The Old Deanery care home, which has 21 residents the oldest of whom is 98, was one of around 400 properties affected by the flooding in St Asaph which saw many have to leave their homes and take refuge with family and friends until flood waters subsided.

Manager, Lisa Bowen said: “I live in nearby Rhyl and there was no
problem with flooding over there, so the first I knew that things were
getting really serious in St Asaph was when my sister, who lives in
the town, rang me about 6am to say the river had come over and that she
had been evacuated by the emergency services.

“The river is not far away from the Old Deanery, so my first thought was for the safety of our residents.

“When I got to the bottom of the road the home is on, things
looked pretty bad. The water was already very deep but I just knew I
had to reach the home, so I waded in.

“It was really cold and the water was up to my waist but the adrenalin
must have kicked in and I just kept going. Further along the road a
firefighter shouted at me to stop because of the danger. But I told him
who I was and that I was trying to reach the Old Deanery. He then led me
the rest of the way there.”

Ms Bowen’s colleagues, Jane Heath Coleman and deputy manager Caroline Barker, also battled their way to the Old Deanery through the floodwaters. Ms Coleman, who waded through flooded gardens to get there, even borrowed two sets of ladders from home-owners to get over
the perimeter wall and into the home.

She said: “I didn’t think about what I was doing at the time. I just
knew I had to get to the home to see the residents were alright because I
wasn’t sure who else from the staff would manage to get there.”

Ms Bowen added: “Jane got there 10 minutes before me and we saw the
water was coming in through every nook and cranny. It wasn’t too deep
but it was very worrying.

“I phoned the county council who sent some sandbags and we put them
everywhere we could see the water appearing, which stopped it. By then
other staff members, some of whom were not even on duty, started to come
in, and a couple of them were wearing fishing waders.

“We got all the residents into the lounge, reassured them everything was
fine, made sure they were warm and gave them their breakfast. There was
no panic at all. By about 8.30am the firemen, who were brilliant, had
pumped out all the water and outside it looked like nothing had
happened.

“A few of the residents had to temporarily move out of their rooms
because some water had got in, and we also had problems with the central
heating boiler and the electrics of the lift but everything was soon
fixed and we quickly got back to normal. I’ve never seen anything like
the flooding before in my life but all the staff were incredible and
just pulled together – it was the real Dunkirk spirit – and we are happy
that not one drop of flood water reached our residents.”

Mario Kreft, chair of Care Forum Wales, the body that represents the
independent care sector, praised the staff and said: “The staff of the
Old Deanery certainly went above and beyond the call of duty.

“The response of Lisa and her team during the catastrophic flooding in St Asaph was nothing short of magnificent.

He added: “Their first thought was for the residents in their care. They
are a shining example of all that is best about social care in Wales
and I believe their heroic efforts should be recognised with an award.
It is proof, if any were needed, of the calibre of people we have
working in social care in Wales.”