Rachel and James Powell's family and their farm animals were miraculously unharmed after several feet of fast-moving water slammed into their farm in less than two hours, in one of the worst flash flooding incidents in living memory.
The flooding on Sunday (May 12) occurred after an idyllic spring afternoon.
"I had finished working in the garden and planting vegetables and the outside looked fantastic," Rachel said.
โThunder and lightning could be heard about an hour later. My husband was absent. We are a working family farm and the kids were feeding the lambs.
โSuddenly this hale came; It must have been almost the size of a golf ball. At that time we didn't think it would be anything more."
Within five minutes the weather had turned into a โtorrent of rainโ and shortly after it began to leak into the house.
Rachel tried to block the water with towels and sheets, then locked the doors as the force of the water pushed them open.
โI looked out the back and water was splashing on the windows,โ Rachel said. โIt's all a bit of a blur, to be honest, it was just a case of disbelief.
"The water quickly reached our ankles. I realized that with the amount of water we wouldn't be able to leave the house."
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Rachel took her children and dogs upstairs and called the fire brigade, before collecting a bag of essentials and calling her husband.
"The cast iron furniture was dragged across the meadow, I had a raised bed made from three-high railway sleepers and only remains of the largest sleeper remain," Rachel said.
โTrees have been uprooted. The water on the right side of the property reached the roof, it was halfway up the shed.
"The force was incredible, the patio flags peeled off like carpets."
She continued: โTrauma is not feeling safe in your own home. "It's climate change, it's very real and we can't take it for granted that we're safe, this was just a very localized incident."
James arrived home with a neighbor and managed to get a ladder to rescue his family from the house.
The family says they have had the support of family, friends and neighbors and hope to recover in a few months.
Rachel also praised the fire service for their work after they quickly felled trees to divert water and reduce the flow, and Powys County Council for getting the roads back to order within hours.
"We have received many messages of help and support," Rachel added. โWe have a really good community network here, people are kind and generous and if they can help, they absolutely will.โ
