A couple who worked for nearly a decade building their dream home have been left with thousands of pounds worth of damage after floodwater swept through it.
A deluge of dirty water from a culvert near the Nant-bran river flooded homes, smashed through fences and walls and moved parked cars in the area.
It happened during a weekend of heavy rain and flooding in Swansea on November 2 and 3.
Derek and Denise O'Brian have lived in their house in Smiths Road in Birchgrove , Swansea, for 9 years and converted the bungalow into a two-storey home during that time.
On Saturday, November 2, Mr O'Brian woke to the sound of fast running water at around 6am.
"I could hear the rain, which was really loud, and then I heard the sound of rushing water from somewhere.
"After that, the house alarm started going off so I went downstairs. There was no light because it was so early and I just stepped off the bottom step straight into a few inches of water," he said.
Mr O'Brian then went into the kitchen on the back of the property, facing the garden, where there was around two to three feet of river water "sloshing against the window" and seeping under the patio doors.
"I just went into the mode of trying to figure out how we could escape if it burst through the glass," said Mr O'Brian.
The couple, with the help of family and friends, have spent the weekend clearing a thick layer of sludge and silt from their floors using industrial cleaners they hired.
Their neighbours were spared the floodwater by a wall in the O'Brian's garden that funnelled the water past the house next door and down the adjacent road.
"We've had our tears over it but the worst thing is that it just isn't our fault, we're left wondering 'what if it happens again?' We worked so hard on our home for years. We know it isn't serious in that no-one was injured, but it's the not knowing that is difficult", said Mrs O'Brian.
The couple called Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service which responded to the flooding and pumped the water out of the O'Brian's home.
"The one thing the fire service guy said to me as he left was 'you might want to put something on your feet.' I'd been barefoot and in a pair of shorts trying to tackle the flood water," added Mr O'Brian.
Several roads on the same slope as Smith's Road were turned into rivers on Saturday morning when a culvert near the Nant-bran river overflowed during heavy rain.
Homeowners in Heol-Las, Haul Fryn and Heol Nant Bran watched in horror as floodwaters swept through their gardens, submerged their cars and flooded their homes.
Similar problems were experienced last month in Birchgrove, when cars were submerged in floods after torrential rain.
Paul Jayne Griffiths, who has lived in Birchgrove for 42 years, said: "It seems to be getting worse every time we get heavy rain now.
"It's hard to get anywhere when it floods because every route is affected and flooded. God help if the emergency services needed to get through, especially under the bridge at the bottom of Heol Las.
"It was exactly a month ago we had heavy rain and we were all flooded out in the same places," she said.
A spokesman for Swansea Council said: "We had five teams working to tackle a number of flood related incidents during the weekend.
"This included a flood at Heol Las where heavy flooding resulted in a road being closed temporarily. Further work was completed to clear debris from the site to enable water to disperse and we were able to reopen the road soon after."
