Jean Powell, a 95-year-old Monmouth resident, died in September. She spent nearly 10 months in a Wetherspoons hotel room after flooding destroyed her home in November 2025.
The River Monnow reached 18 times its normal level during Storm Claudia. This surge swamped more than 400 properties in the Welsh town.
The disaster occurred in the early hours of November 15, 2025. Officials classified it as a one-in-75-year flood.
The flood overwhelmed defensive infrastructure built 35 years prior. Almost a month’s worth of rain fell within a single 24-hour window before the event.
Powell moved to The Kings Head, a Wetherspoons hotel in Monmouth, after being evacuated from her Chippenham Court retirement complex flat. Her friend and neighbour, Wyn Smith, said Powell initially felt content in the heart of the town. But the situation became difficult as the displacement extended.
“All she wanted to do was come back home and we couldn’t fulfil that,” Smith said.
Smith said staff at the pub were “brilliant with Jean” and provided her with food. However, the living arrangement was not suitable for her long-term health.
Powell frequently asked when she could return to her apartment as the months passed. Smith is 70 years old.
Smith said living in just one room was awful for Powell. “When Jean got ill, it wasn’t a place for her to live,” Smith said.
Powell’s health deteriorated. She never returned to her flat.
The flooding caused extensive damage across Monmouth. Some businesses have reopened, but other residents remain displaced.
Other residents of the Chippenham Court complex must stay in care homes, Airbnbs, rented accommodation, or with family. This continues while a £1m refurbishment is completed.
The first residents should return to the complex in the coming weeks.
The Frosts lived in rental accommodation nearby for six months. During that time, they began ripping out the downstairs of their home to start again.
“We didn’t bring the boys home for a good while because we didn’t want them seeing everything that they’d treasured had been destroyed,” Frost said.
The toll on the children was her primary worry. Even now, the children ask if they are staying home when it rains.
Natural Resources Wales has urged people to prepare for “the unthinkable” this winter.
