Sully community has rallied to help those affected by disastrous flash flooding yesterday.

Torrential rain caused homes to flood and road blockages across the county.

Some of the worst-affected areas in Sully include Highbridge Close, Winsford Close and Conybeare Road.

Ian Davis volunteered to organise the clean-up yesterday evening, feeling he could put his experience from the Royal Airforce to use.

"Last night I realised it was quite serious and saw lots of volunteering was coming through on the Facebook group," he said.

"The problem is that everyone wants to help but they don't know how.

"I realised that with all the will in the world, this was going to take some organisation, so I volunteered to coordinate the effort.

"We stayed up till midnight and then we've been out again this morning.

"We've seen some elderly couples who didn't know what to do until we arrived with some bodies to help them.

"We're just trying to make people comfortable for Christmas."

Ian described the strong community spirit as a response to the year as a whole.

"I think, in the Vale the community spirit is strong, especially here in Sully and Dinas Powys," said Ian.

"At the minute we've got five or six teams of two to three people helping out in houses around here.

"It would have been very easy to sit there with a gin and tonic on 'Christmas eve eve' and not do anything.

"However, we've had such a rubbish 2020, this hand grenade that's been thrown in is just dreadful.

"Anything that anyone can do to help has been really well received, especially in the spirit of Christmas.

"It's showing 2020 what's what," he said.

Claire Johnson and her family were forced to climb out their lounge window yesterday, when flood water blocked the front and back doors of their house on Highbridge Close.

"I looked out the window and watched it come up the drive. It was so quick," Claire told Nub News.

"It started off as a dribble through the front and back door, so we put towels and blankets down.

"It was something biblical, it came from nothing.

"Luckily my brother and his wife came round. She said anything that we wanted to save should go upstairs.

"I had a new hip four weeks ago, so I'm pretty handicapped," she said.

Claire said they had four feet of water in the house, which has ruined the entire downstairs.

"It was just so high, we had water up to the windowsill," said Claire.

"My husband is trying to get hold of the loss adjusters, but they're busy this time of year so it's not easy."

Despite the awful events, Claire is trying to remain positive.

"We've had so much help from the village hub, we've got an amazing community here. Everyone is just fantastic," she said.

"It's been such a bad year and people have lost people they loved.

"Nobody died, you know? It's just stuff. It's just some mud. My three girls are safe, my husband is safe, my two dogs are safe."

Lynn Hill also lives on Highbridge Close. The entire ground floor of her home was flooded, apart from the study.

"Water was absolutely pouring down. It came down through the garden right into the conservatory and then the rest of it," she said.

"There's a really heavy step by the back door right here, and it just floated away.

"Then about three hours later it went down as fast as it came.

"I've taken the decorations down, to save them, but we'll have to live in this conservatory space for now," she said.

The carpets in Lynn's house are sodden and her furniture had been raised to protect it from further damage.

The wooden floorboards in her conservatory were also water-damaged.

Huw Powell, who lives on Winsford Road, said it was a "disaster" for him and his family.

"It's been horrendous," he said.

"It came from Highbridge Close and just swept down onto us, and the two houses across.

"I've got a 91-year-old mother in a care home that I can't go and see, on top of this.

"I'm grateful for all the help we've had. We've had electricians in, and people have ripped up the carpets for us."

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help those affected by the floods in Sully.