Storm Dennis: What has been done since one of Wales' most devastating storms?

It's three years since Storm Dennis ripped through homes and businesses across Wales in one of the most devastating storms in recent history.

It struck on the night of 15 February, 2020, after heavy rainfall across Wales and the United Kingdom, damaging livelihoods and communities, particularly across South Wales.

The torrential weather followed Storm Ciara a week before, which left ground saturated and rivers running high across Wales.

Many rivers reached record levels, properties were flooded and in some communities, people were evacuated from their homes. 

A review into the flooding published in October 2020 by Welsh Government - sponsored body Natural Resources Wales (NRW), which issues and manages flood forecasts, found its operations had been stretched and hampered its ability to react to "rapidly escalating and unforeseen events on the ground".

It also found 12 flood warnings were not issued when they should have been, and six were issued late.

The review said: "During Storm Dennis it was clear that the complex decision-making and judgment used to issue flood warnings during a very short timescale, and in the early hours of the morning, became increasingly challenging.

"The workload and pressure at this time was significant and, in the rapidly escalating events that occurred during that particular storm, some flood warnings were issued late (after the onset of flooding) or not issued at all."

Three flood warnings were issued late in the lower Taff Valley, three were issued late in the Teifi Valley, 11 were not issued in the Rhymney Valley, and one was not issued on the River Towy.

The council leader in Rhondda Cynon Taf, where almost 1,500 homes and businesses were flooded, welcomed the report when it was published, but said it is "imperative" the issues are resolved.

"There was a clear risk to life during Storm Dennis and it is fortunate that there was no direct loss of life as a result of the system failure," Andrew Morgan said.

The report said the "extreme events" led to the level of NRW's service "falling below what we aim to provide".

"The review has found that this capacity was severely stretched, and improvements are needed if we are to cope with this scale of event in the future."

The report added that the severity of the flooding meant it was "unavoidable", and that extreme weather events were likely to affect Wales again in the future due to climate change.

"Therefore, we need to understand how to adapt the way we live and work in these locations.

What has been done to help communities since Storm Dennis hit?

• The Welsh Government said it has provided more than £194m to help with the risk of flooding. This includes more than £13 million for local authorities to help reduce the risk of flooding for over 6,500 properties and more than £9.3 million in emergency funding which has been provided to Natural Resources Wales and local authorities to repair critical flood infrastructure.

• Natural Resources Wales says it has invested heavily in flood defences and warning services - one of which, is the Crindau flood scheme in Newport which now provides an increased level of flood protection to over 600 homes and businesses in the area.

Jeremy Parr, Head of Flood and Incident Risk Management at Natural Resources Wales, said: "Flood defence is an important part of what we need to do to combat climate change but the risks are increasing. We hear all the stories about more and more extreme weather, more and more extreme events, so it's important that we do all of the things that we can to try and prevent the worst impacts.

"[Flood defences are] not going to stop all of the flooding all of the time. It's very expensive as well, so the other things that we need to do is make sure that we've got really flood warnings systems - we invest a lot of money in that and there's lots of information that's available on our website. Some of the time it's about getting that warning so that people can act."

He continued: "One of our messages is just because it hasn't happened to you and your community, doesn't mean it can't happen. Lots of places aren't at flood risk. We estimate that one in eight properties in Wales is at risk of flooding.

"One of the first things we encourage people to do is find out whether their property is one of those one in eight, so you can go on our website and look at our flood maps. If you are at risk then there's things like signing up for the flood warning service.

How can you prepare for future floods?

• Check your flood risk - you can check your flood risk by postcode.

• Sign up for flood warnings.

• Plan what to do in an emergency - where could you move people, pets and valuables to safety?

• Write a flood plan - so you, your family, or your workforce know what to do during a flood.

• Pack a flood kit with essential items.

• Check your insurance - are you covered for flooding?

• During a flood, you should turn off gas, electricity, and water.

You can check Natural Resources Wales website for more information.

Mr Parr said people should be planning ahead for future incidents "we really encourage people to have flood plans, think about it in advance."

"What would you do if the worst happened to you, things like making sure you know where your important possessions are. And things like thinking about moving your car out of harms way.

"We will do our best to lower the risk in communities by building defences, but you can't do this for all floods in all locations across the whole of Wales, it' just not economically possible, it's just not technically possible in a lot of places, so it's important that people also take some personal responsibilities as much as they can.

"Think about things that they could do to protect their own property, develop a community flood plan. What we're not saying is it's all down to people and individuals house holds, but it's got to be a combination of all of these things."