Shropshire Star

Shropshire flooding: Roof of guide dog charity's HQ collapses in freak weather

A clean-up operation is under way after a guide dog charity's Shrewsbury headquarters was battered by freak weather.

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The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, based in Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury saw part of its roof collapse and its two offices flooded as the county was battered by rain and strong winds in the wake of Storm Angus this week.

Staff had to be evacuated from the ground floor and first floor offices at New Zealand House, but charity officials say luckily the dogs had just left before disaster struck.

Dan Myatt, who works at the charity, said the water seeped into the building before getting into the office's electrics.

He said: "It was not the best Monday. It was a standard wet and rainy day and we were looking at the rain outside and all of a sudden there was a bit of a leak inside followed by a second, third, fourth, fifth.

"This was followed by water running down the walls and the windows followed by a full evacuation and parts of the ceiling plaster coming down and the water got into the electrics."

He added: "It was the first floor office which flooded before the ground floor so what happened was the water was collecting on the roof and came into an office above us which then came into us and then sadly the water went from us into our ground floor office.

"Luckily our dogs had just been taken home by our volunteer boarders so fortunately there were no dogs that had to evacuate. It was pure luck.

"We have come back in and the electrician has got the electrics working but there is going to be a lot of cleaning up to do."

The charity, which provides mobility and freedom to blind and partially sighted people and campaigns for the rights of people with visual impairment, saw parts of the roof fall in as a result of the heavy rain and Mr Myatt said staff have carried on working from home to ensure the service continues.

"Our landlord is looking into all of that (roof repairs) and getting that sorted but it is just a mess really," he said.

"We are decamping to home working so we can carry on providing support and the service.

"We have let all our volunteers and supporters who help us know that the offices are a no-go.

"We have let our volunteer boarders know we will be a bit late collecting dogs and our puppy walkers not to come in at the moment.

"It is operation clean-up."

The charity has launched a justgiving page to help with the costs of repairs and to get them back on their feet.

To donate visit justgiving.com/fundraising/Shrewsbury-Guide-Dogs

Across the county, trains were cancelled and roads flooded as Shropshire was battered by heavy rainfall throughout Monday. Parts of the county were put on flood alert by the MetOffice.

Network Rail warned of "major disruption" to some routes amid 65 flood warnings and 212 flood alerts in place across England and Wales.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the country, heavy rain, strong winds and flash flooding have brought widespread disruption and increased fears for a missing pensioner.

Passengers on board a ferry in the Irish Sea were forced to spend the night in howling gales off the Welsh coast after it was deemed too dangerous to attempt to dock, while hundreds of homes were left without power in the North East.

The Environment Agency said the flood warnings, which demand immediate action to be taken, have been issued for parts of the North West, North East, South West, Midlands and East Anglia.

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