// BBC UK NEWS — CRONACA
Flood victim, 95, lived in Wetherspoons after her home was destroyed and died before she could return
Jean Powell was temporarily staying in one of Monmouth Wetherspoons' guest rooms while her flat was being refurbished after it was flooded a year ago
When neighbours hammered on Jean Powell's door and evacuated her to safety because the nearby river had burst its banks and swamped her town, little did she know she would never return home.
Jean sought a 10-month refuge at her local Wetherspoons but kept asking when she could go back to her flat, which was flooded when the River Monnow hit 18-times its normal level in south Wales in November 2025.
But the 95-year-old never got to go back home and died in September - one of those who suffered a personal toll from the effects of being flooded.
"Jean used to say, when am I going home?" said friend and neighbour Wyn Smith. "All she wanted to do was come back home and we couldn't fulfil that."
The BBC report from last year when Monmouth town centre was hit by severe flooding after Storm Claudia
Jean was forced out of her home when the river hit record levels in the early hours of 15 November as a major incident was declared after almost a month's worth of rain fell in 24 hours.
It has officially been described as a one-in-75-year event when the river flooded more than 400 properties in the Welsh town during Storm Claudia - and overwhelmed the defences that were built 35 years ago to protect the centre of town.
Jean, like many in the small town near the Wales and England border, was rescued and after sleeping the night on her neighbour's chair sought temporary sanctuary in Monmouth's Wetherspoons as she had no close family to look after her.
"She was happy in the beginning because she was in town where she wanted to be," recalled Wyn, who visited her friend most days who was staying in one of The Kings Head's hotel rooms.