A devastating flood from Storm Claudia has forced a Welsh community pharmacy to operate out of a portacabin. 

It’s been nearly a month since four and a half foot’s worth of water flooded the Well Pharmacy at 108 Monnow Street, Monmouth in Wales. 

Read more: ‘We refuse to close!’ Pharmacy battles through carnage as huge sinkhole appears

“The amount of water that came down was unbelievable,” branch manager Simon Moore told C+D yesterday (December 10). 

He said it’s been the worst case of flooding “for 40 years” since flood defences were built back in the 1980s, according to Moore. 

The Met Office put in place Amber warnings for Storm Claudia on November 14, and the Environment Agency said 57 properties had been flooded because of the storm. 

“Everything in the pharmacy had to be destroyed because of the contamination from the sewage. It was roughly 7,000 items.” 

Read more: Fire-ravaged Rowlands branch opens ‘new-look premises’ after portacabin stint

Moore said the power went off in the pharmacy around 2am on November 15, and the water damage meant that they had to initially operate out of Well’s Kelvedon Street branch in Newport, some 25 miles away. 

“At the start, we had 2,500 bags of medicine we had nowhere to put. So, we had teams of seven or eight drivers delivering to every patient just to get it out. This took us two full weeks.” 

It took 10 days from the flooding for the pharmacy to relocate from the Newport branch back into Monmouth. 

The team is now operating out of a portacabin that is stationed in the car park of the nearby Castle Gate Medical Practice, who were also affected by the flood too. 

Modern refit 

In their temporary location, the pharmacy can’t do NHS services but is still able to do private services such as flu jabs, Mounjaro services and a “little bit of dispensing”. 

But Moore said it’s “mainly being used for a source of information or as a pickup point” as a lot of work is still being done in Newport and then “ferried out every day in vans”. 

Read more: ‘Danger to life’: Storm Éowyn shuts down NI pharmacies

The pharmacy itself is still recovering from the flooding. 

“It’s still drying now. It takes a minimum of two weeks to dry it. It’s gone back to the bare bones of the bricks. They won’t put anything back in until it’s completely dry because otherwise it will warp.” 

Flood defences will be included in the new plans for the pharmacy “otherwise we won’t get insured”.

Moore said the insurance claim is “upwards over a quarter of a million”.  

Read more: Pharmacy premise closed to public after NYE storm tears off roof

“They had to write a brand new standard operating procedure (SOP) for it to future proof,” he added. 

It is hoped the pharmacy will reopen at the end of January after undergoing a “state of the art, full refit”. 

“There will be an extra consultation room, digital displays, new lighting, new counters, new dispenser benches. It’ll be very modern,” said Moore. 

Read more: How my pharmacy responded to a nightmare flood before Christmas

In February, Godstone Pharmacy continued to operate despite a "scary" sinkhole opening outside its premises.  

Last October, a Rowlands Pharmacy branch reopened its doors after working from a portacabin for over three weeks due to damage caused by a fire in its original premises.