MORE than 50 residents were evacuated from their homes as the River Elwy flooded on Sunday afternoon.

Denbighshire County Council (DCC) issued severe flood warning for Glasdir Estate, Ruthin and properties in St Asaph as roads were shut due to heavy rain and strong winds caused by Storm Ciara.

The council opened a rest centre at St Asaph Leisure Centre as a precautionary measure and provided temporary shelter for 53 people, who were evacuated from Llys y Felin, Mill Street and Spring Gardens caravan park.

Residents were able to return to their properties a few hours later, while caravan residents were placed in overnight accommodation.

Glasdir Estate was not affected by flooding.

Brian Jones, DCC’s cabinet member for highways and the environment, said its out of hours service was “inundated with calls for help” due to “relentless” rainfall.

He said the council carried out its response in cooperation with Natural Resources Wales, who fronted the response to the flooding regionally.

“The sheer amount of rain that fell in Denbighshire and the rest of North Wales and the UK resulted in flooding in some of our communities and caused difficult travelling conditions,” he said.

“The council’s teams worked tirelessly in appalling conditions to respond to flooding incidents and problems with fallen trees. Our out of hours service was inundated with calls for help and additional staff were called in for support.

“We also had teams working closely with the other key emergency services, as well as staff and volunteers from the local community assisting at the rest centre. They were able to provide safety to those at risk of flooding and provide them with warmth in a safe environment.

DCC said its highways officers checked routes across the county on Monday morning to clear debris

Keith Ivens, operations manager for Natural Resources Wales, which carried out a North Wales-wide response to the flooding with local authorities, said: “Flooding can devastate communities which is why we work year round to try and reduce the likelihood of flooding in at risk areas all over Wales.

“Storm Ciara has affected people and property across the country and we have teams in several locations assisting with clear up work.

“We are also working with other agencies and partners to find out how and why certain areas were more affected than others and whether anything further can be done to reduce the risk in future.”