Emergency services ask Bangor on Dee residents to evacuate due to severe flood risk

Emergency services have been working through the night to evacuate residents in Bangor on Dee due to a severe flood warning, the most severe warning level issued by Natural Resources Wales.

Leader of Wrexham Council Cllr Mark Pritchard has said 20 to 30 people have so far been evacuated “but there’ll be lots more.”

North Wales Police declared a Major Incident just before 1.42AM this morning stating: “Severe flood risk: Emergency services are asking residents of Bangor on Dee to evacuate properties and proceed to Ysgol Sant Dunawd immediately. DO NOT try to leave the area yourself. 4×4 vehicles will be utilised by emergency services to evacuate residents from the school.”

Severe flood risk: Emergency services are asking residents of Bangor on Dee to evacuate properties and proceed to Ysgol Sant Dunawd immediately.

DO NOT try to leave the area yourself. 4×4 vehicles will be utilised by emergency services to evacuate residents from the school. pic.twitter.com/1DBTGm1JIZ

— North Wales Police #KeepWalesSafe 🌈 (@NWPolice) January 21, 2021

Natural Resources Wales said: “Police request properties on Abbey Gardens, Overton Road High Street, ie closest to the river must evacuate.”

“Emergency services have started to evacuate residents and are currently conducting house to house visits. ”

“We ask everyone to attend Ysgol Sant Dunawd as soon as possible. Please do not try to leave the area yourself due to the road conditions.”

“4×4 vehicles will be utilised to evacuate residents from the school.”

Councillor Stephen Harvey is chairperson of the Bangor on Dee Community Council told BBC Radio Wales:

“We’ve had a presence overnight by the emergency services, the police, fire and Natural Resources Wales.

“We’ve got a quite a large group of volunteer flood wardens who live in the village and they’ve been absolutely magnificent during the course of the last 12 to 14 hours.”

“Parts of the village were evacuated earlier on, people were advised to leave their properties, these were some properties pretty close to the river.

“My understanding is that Natural Resources Wales and the emergency services are concerned about the possible breach of the flood defences, not saying it’s going to happen but there is some concern because the reverse is an unprecedented level.”

“We have a very good systeme of (flood) defences which surround the village they they do the job, they push the water into areas where there’s there’s no properties,it’ss mostly farmland.”

Cllr Harvey said no homes have been affected so far, “the emergency services were going around various properties in the village where vulnerable people live.”

“They were advising them to to leave the property and go to the school, some residents have taken up that option.”

“So it’s very well coordinated, we’ve got a tremendous community spirit in our village, and everybody pulls together.”

The River Dee at Bangor on Dee is at its highest recorded level at 16.457 meters above ordnance datum.

Wrexham Council has said: “As a precaution, residents are now being evacuated from their homes in Bangor-on-Dee, with a particular focus on the most vulnerable in the community.

This is on the back of the severe flood warning issued for the village by Natural Resources Wales.

North Wales Police is leading on the evacuation, and the council is working with partners to assist and organise temporary rest centres for residents affected.”

If you need to report any issues about the current weather situation in Wrexham County Borough, you can call the council’s out of hours number on 0155 475 2310.

Natural Resources Wales: https://flood-warning.naturalresources.wales/Detail/101FWFWN200/