NEIL Armstrong walked on the moon the last time West Somerset suffered such heavy rain as fell on Sunday.

Meteorologists said the area had not seen anything like it since July, 1969 – 54 years ago.

More than a month’s worth of rain deluged Minehead and surrounding communities in the space of less than 24 hours.

Homes and businesses across the district were flooded, some residents had to be re-homed, and major and minor roads closed.

Butlin’s holiday resort, in Minehead, was forced to send holidaymakers home while it closed for the week and was not expecting to reopen before today (Friday).

Police closed the A39 near Holford and Kilve and the A396 between Dunster and Timberscombe during Sunday and advised people not to travel except in an emergency and local firefighters were working to capacity trying to pump away floodwater in Minehead town centre.

Withycombe was one of the most spectacularly affected rural communities with some homes inundated and the village road turned into a mini version of the Colorado River raging through the Grand Canyon.

Social media was awash - pun intended - with shocking videos and photographs of roads turned into rivers and homes and businesses standing in lakes.

And the district was bracing itself for more to come with a Met Office forecast of further heavy rainfall into the weekend.

Somerset Council was sending out messages on social media channels to remind residents to protect homes and businesses if they were worried about more flooding and highlighting that autumn and winter were on the way with a likelihood of more heavy rain and potential floods.

However, a major clear-up operation quickly swung into action and while there were still large areas of mud to be seen, much of the area was getting back to normal by mid-week.

The Environment Agency lifted its Somerset coastline flooding alert on Wednesday, while Somerset Council said on Thursday all major roads had been cleared and it was now working its way through the minor roads.

The Environment Agency was continuing to monitor the situation across moors and reservoirs and was assisting in gathering intelligence regarding impacted communities.

The council said its teams had been on the ground since Sunday working with local groups and gathering information about where help was needed.

It said it was the third time Somerset had seen such an event this year and while it could not say climate change was to blame, the science told it these events would likely happen more often.

The council acknowledged the road through Withycombe had been ‘very badly damaged’ and it was in the process of clearing debris and assessing its condition.

Luxborough suffered a similar experience, as did Alcombe, where an in-progress housing development was being blamed at least in part for water run-off contributing to the flooding, while Carhampton saw a once-in-a-generation amount of water cut off the main road and flood some homes.

In Minehead, water ran through the town centre flooding many shops and business premises as drain covers were blown off by the force.

Mark Granger, a former chamber of commerce chairman who owns The Toybox, said he was ‘two inches away from disaster’ because the flooding in his shop reached eight inches deep and his lowest stock shelving was 10 inches off the ground.

Mr Granger praised local Cllr Mandy Chilcott, who was out and about throughout the day talking to people to find who needed help.

He said a lot of the issue ion the town centre seemed to stem from the Victorian-age sewerage system and the fact that so many developments had been connected without authorisation to the culvert running under the main road that nobody knew how many or where they were.

Mr Granger said there was about 18 inches of water in the town and it was flowing past at what seemed like 30 mph.

He said: “It was a bit of a Dunkirk spirit with people banding together and helping each other. Jewsons heard the distress calls and opened up to dish out sandbags to people.”

The Beach Hotel on Minehead sea front avoided disaster thanks to the prompt action of staff who blocked off the water and mopped out as quickly as they could.

Minehead’s oldest house, Townsend House, where artists Georgina King and Jill Davies were exhibiting as part of Somerset Arts Weeks, was the scene of frantic activity on Sunday with volunteers joining them in a fight to limit the flood water gushing into the building.

Townsend House management committee chairman Dave Taylor said: “The way the two artists and volunteers slaved away with buckets and mops saved the day.

“Raji Webber, Window Woman, also came to the rescue to secure the lock so that the building was secure, what a star.”

The exhibition was able to continue after the mop-up operation and should be open for the rest of the event until October 1, except on Mondays and Tuesdays.

The West Somerset Railway suspended its services on Sunday after flooding of Blue Anchor station damaged a signal box and caused a landslip alongside the track, but trains were running again by Monday.

Watchet and Williton were also badly struck with damage to road surfaces and business premises and some homes suffering water ingress and the road to West Quantoxhead closed.

The West Somerset Hotel, in Watchet, was forced to close for the day to repair severe water damage and a flooded cellar, but there was relief for the town’s Star Inn landlord Ross Nuttycombe, who managed to open after some minor work. The pub had only reopened last year after an 18-month renovation following a previous flood in 2020.

Residents in Porlock were fortunate to avoid any major incidents, while in other areas there were ongoing problems during the week.

Stogumber suffered a blocked sewer which required Wessex Water to carry out emergency work, and in Dulvertonsome areas of the town lost their water supply.

Town council chairman Cllr Christine Duberry had to open Dulverton Town Hall for people who needed to fill kettles or access drinking water for other reasons.