On the 5th December 2013 a high spring tide, combined with a storm surge and gale force winds overwhelmed the sea defences along parts of the North Wales coast.
It has been 20 years since this area last experienced flooding and whilst not on the scale of the storm that caused so much damage in the Philipines, homes were flooded, leading to about 400 people having to be evacuated to safer areas.
I was on the coastal path at Barkby Beach, Prestatyn, to record the ferocity of the storm. Hopefully this short video will give you some idea of what it was like and show the emergency efforts that were being made to stem the flow of water at our location.
The wall you can see in the video is the highest point in the sea defences, the tidal surge has already overwhelmed it. From the photographs you can see the hasty efforts to erect a sand bag wall to protect the low-lying houses.
There was still an hour to go before high tide. With the water level still rising the police suggested it was time to move out of the area and let the emergency team get on with their efforts.
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Say It With A Camera 
Very nicely put together. All we have to put up with in Missouri USA are tornadoes, ice storms, hail bigger than softballs (true) and snow. I’m an hour’s drive away from the Missouri River which has recently flooded its banks. Thanks for sharing.
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Our climate is pretty mild and we never see anything like that. After the storms in the 90’s when there was sever flooding, they rebuilt the sea defences, which were supposed to cope with anything nature through at us. I guess they are going to have to go back to the drawing board.
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Nature has a way of making mankind “go back to the drawing board.” 🙂 It makes us realize that we’re not in control as much as we think we are. Just look at what the volcano did in Iceland to air traffic, for instance. I really did enjoy your little video. 🙂
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Thank you http://about.me/mikehardisty
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Love your about.me attitude. Nicely put. 🙂
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Is there any other way?
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It depends on whom you listen to. Govt., for instance, doesn’t like independent thinking, at least over here. 🙂
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Pretty much the same here… http://about.me/mikehardisty
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The power of water is enormous! Hope you were ok.
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Got my feet a little wet at one point, but I’ve long since learned not to put myself in Harms way to get a photograph. If it looks dangerous, it probably is…… http://about.me/mikehardisty
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