"THERE was a small trout in the lounge when we were clearing it out," said Jill Sutton as she surveyed the damage to her home at Teifi Terrace at Adpar, Newcastle Emlyn.

The row of a dozen or so small cottages were all inundated with floodwater from the raging River Teifi at the height of Storm Callum, along with neighbouring properties – including HUTS mental health charity and the Riverside Café.

But what made Jill’s situation seem so much worse was that both her and her 90-year-old father live in separate houses on Teifi Terrace, with both homes hard hit.

The water reached a depth of up to three feet inside the houses and many personal item, fixtures and fittings can’t be saved and will have to be skipped, while the houses themselves now need to be dried out and repaired.

Her father Peter had to be rescued as Jill, who runs the Fair and Fabulous shop in town, was away working at a festival when the storm hit.

“I had seen the river flood before but never anything like this,” said Peter.

“I thought it would go down as usual. I was sat in the house and the water started trickling in through the door. The next thing I knew it was up to my knees. It all happened so quickly it was frightening.”

Not being there as the flood struck made it all the more difficult for Jill but she is grateful for all the help and the way the community has rallied round to help her, her father and all the neighbouring properties.

Ruth Rowland, a pioneer member of the local Co-op Community Fund, has helped organise an army of volunteers to help with the clear-up; local shops have donated food, drink, cleaning equipment, dehumidifiers and other much-needed items.

Debbie Adams from Debbie’s Jewellers in the town has set up a Facebook Newcastle Emlyn Flood Collection page to help raise funds for those affected, which can be found at facebook.com/donate/2104231866572318/

“It is truly disheartening to walk down the streets which have been affected to see people's belongings piled up ready to be thrown in the skip, even more disturbing is to be invited in to one of the homes to see the extent of the water damage with a thick layer of sludge covering carpets, furniture and belongings,” said Debbie.

“The help we have received and the way the community has rallied round has been simply amazing,” added Jill.

“I have to thank people who helped dad and it’s all a bit overwhelming.”

It was a similar message from Radhika Kelly as she surveyed the wreckage of her business at the Riverside Café alongside husband Dave. Three feet of water swept through the building and they were not insured for such flood damage.

A fund-raising page has been set up at gofundme.com/saving-riverside-cafe-after-floods and more than £4,000 has been raised in little more than a day.

“The community has been amazing and it makes you realise how lucky we are to live in such a great area where people rally care and have your back,” said Radhika.

“It is going to take a lot of work but we are determined this will be a happy ending and we will be back and have a grand re-opening.”

“The flood has totally destroyed and devastated our little business we have been building this past year and a half.

“It had been mine and my cousin Karuna’s dream to own and run a vegan cafe together our whole lives. To finally fulfil this dream after planning, saving and fundraising a year and a half ago, only to have it ripped away from under us in one foul swoop in one day is devastating to say the least.

“We have lost a massive portion of our equipment inside and outside and need to replace around 90% of everything we own and need to run the business due to be river rising so high and destroying and contaminating it all inside and sweeping away outside benches.

“We are a small business and as many of you know this is enough to destroy us as we do not have the funds to cover all these costs ourselves by any means so are calling on anyone who knows and loves us and our cafe to help chip in any amount they can afford to try to get us back on our feet again.”

At mental health charity HUTS, manager Sally Chorley said it was vital they try to reopen as soon as possible.

“The pottery and woodwork rooms on the ground floor have been destroyed and much of our clients’ work has also been damaged,” she said.

“All the crafts we have made for Christmas fairs has been ruined.

“We will probably be closed for at least a couple of weeks but because of the nature of the service we provide, it is vital we are up and running in some form as soon as possible. Some of our clients themselves may have been affected by the flooding and we need to be there to help.

“The community support we are getting has been phenomenal.”

One particularly hard-felt loss has been the community garden which was only recently completed by members thanks to £4,900 funding from Tesco’s Bags for Life scheme. It has been totally destroyed.

It has been a similar tale up and down the Teifi Valley.

Llechryd saw the river reach record levels, with around a dozen properties badly hit with flooding up to first floor level.

Flood defences installed at Bridge House, opposite the bridge on the corner, back in 2006 after the last big flood proved of little use, with the whole of the ground floor submerged.

The village has set up a fund-raising page at justgiving.com/crowdfunding/llechrydflooddamage

Llandysul too felt the full impact of Storm Callum, with Llandysul Padddlers posting on facebook that it had five feet of water running through its centre with scores of kayaks, boat shed, trailers and all the slalom gates washed away.

The club said: “Thanks to everyone that has offered help already. Each day we will have a team and jobs list if you are passing just call in and see what we are up to. We are also still going to try and run all the sessions that are booked in but we might have to adapt a few of them.

“Thanks to the people who brought us teas, coffee, scones, cake, sandwiches - what a great community we live in.”

Carmarthenshire residents affected by flooding can contact 01267 234567 or 0300 333 2222 out of hours.

Ceredigion residents who require assistance can contact 01545 572572 or 01239 851604 out of hours.