Storm Franklin: More flood warnings as clean up in Wales continues

  • Video Report by ITV Wales reporter Alexandra Hartley


Seven flood warnings have been issued by Natural Resources Wales as the clean up continues after days of storm damage.

Thousands of homes experienced power cuts on Friday as a result of Storm Eunice with Storm Franklin hitting Wales on Sunday.

A flood warning was issued for the River Wye at Monmouth on Tuesday and six other alerts have been issued over the past few days near rivers.

Natural Recourses Wales has said you can sign up for flood alerts via their website.

Dredging and clearing water channels is an important part of Natural Resources Wales flood risk maintenance work.

Jeremy Parr from Natural Resources Wales said: "There's no one single answer to this, we can't change the weather, we need to adapt to the changing circumstances and changing weather patterns.

"It's important that we carry on building and maintaining defences and we invest a lot of Welsh Government money, both ourselves and local authorities.

"Maybe people are experiencing flooding who haven't experienced it before. One of the things people can do is go onto our website, you can put your postcode in there and find out if you are at risk and then you can start to think about the sorts of things that you can do to prepare your household."

It's the first time since 2015 that Wales has seen three storms named in a week with Dudley, Eunice and Franklin all hitting the UK within the last seven days.


Wind Gusts

Wales saw some of Storm Franklin's highest gusts of wind according to the Met Office.

Gusts of 84mph were recorded in Pembrey Sands near Llanelli on Monday 21 February.

However Storm Eunice's highest gust of 87mph was recorded on Mumble's Head on Friday. Followed by gusts of 84mph in Aberdaron while rivers all over Wales reached record levels.


Damage to residents houses in Newport isn't expected to be fully repaired for another 6 months to a year.

Residents living on Christ Church road in Newport saw extensive damage to their homes after the roof of a nearby shop landed on three properties.

The roof was ripped off during the winds brought by Storm Eunice on Friday 18 February.

One resident Alison Bradnick explained she was sitting in her bay window downstairs when the roof hit her house.

She said, "It was just like an explosion and then everything was coming past the windows, all the small tiles.

"You didn't know which way to run."

The roof of a shop flew across the road and hit three houses on a residential street in Newport during Storm Eunice.

"Things can be repaired but lives can't."

Alison, her partner and their dogs made it out of the house safely along with their 92-year-old neighbour but the damage inside has made her home extremely unsafe.

All three homes have been evacuated now but it could take between 6 months to a year before anyone can return.

Alson said, "The back is completely demolished, but I'm just thankful everyone is okay. Things can be repaired but lives can't."

Gareth Morgan, another resident who was affected by the damage, said "Bits and pieces came through the window and all the glass was in the house.

"It all came through as the roof fell. We had to clear all that up on Saturday"


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