Shropshire student sees 'insane' storm hit Aberystwyth
[gallery] A university student from Shropshire has described the "insane" scenes as storms battered the Welsh coast causing flooding and thousands of pounds worth of damage.
James Bird, 20, from Shrewsbury, is a second year history university student at Aberystwyth, which was hit hard by storms at the weekend.
A major clean-up operation is now underway in the town, which is home to dozens of Shropshire students.
Mr Bird said he went out onto the sea front an hour before the second surge hit on Friday night.
He said: "You could see even then that it was going to be absolutely insane. I was speaking to an Aberystwyth local and he said it was by far the worst he had ever seen it.
"It was rough and windy and very wet and even though it was 90 minutes away from peaking I had to get out of there - there was no point in waiting to see it, it was far too dangerous.
"I only live two streets back from the seafront and was included in the evacuation area, but we decided to stick it out and when we woke on Saturday, we discovered that thankfully we had escaped any flooding or damage and we had full power too.
"Only one street closer though and it is flooded and when you get out on to the front, the damage is like nothing you could ever imagine.
"Benches, viewing telescopes, rocks, the wall, just everything has been ripped up and dumped in the street.
"It will be some clear up operation, I wouldn't like to co-ordinate that."
Today Dyfed Powys Police reported that severe weather was again causing problems in Aberystwyth. Officers were helping the council evacuate the promenade and urged people to stay away from the area.
See also - Shropshire remains on flood alert
