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The Day the Sea Came In

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BBC Radio Wales - The Day the Sea Came In

North Wales journalist Tracy Cardwell returns to Towyn 30 years after devastating floods.

In 1990, floods devastated a large part of North Wales. Tracy Cardwell, a young journalist at the time, returns to the epicentre in Towyn to recall events with local people.

Three decades after devastating floods wreaked havoc in North Wales, journalist Tracy Cardwell returns to the epicentre to recall the events of February 26th 1990 with local people.

Up to 6,000 residents were forced from their homes in Kinmel Bay and Towyn when the sea flooded the area in a catastrophic combination of high winds and high tides.

In this programme Tracy, who worked as a young reporter for a local paper meets some of the people affected as well as a local photographer who captured images of the event close up. 

Nearly 3000 homes and businesses had to be evacuated and the disaster had a big impact on local people - affecting them economically as well as leaving lasting physical and mental scars.

Photographer Bob Hewitt remembers rescuing an elderly woman in a canoe while Elwyn Edwards talks about being trapped in a caravan park for 9 hours when the floods first hit. 

In Abergele Tracy meets Darren Millar, AM for Clywd West who was a young boy at the time. He recalls being called out of school and the stress and anxiety the events caused his family and others over the long term. 

Tracey also meets Mike Peters, lead singer of The Alarm who helped to raise money for the victims of the flood  and Dr Lynda Yorke, a Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography at Bangor University who discusses the likelihood of a repeat of the events of 1990. 

The Day The Sea Came In is an MIM Production for BBC Radio Wales.

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