Storm Bert flooding devastates parts of Wales as Pontypridd suffers again

Storm Bert continues to cause disruption after torrential downpours caused “devastating” flooding at the weekend.

Many parts of Wales are counting the cost of the storm, with a major incident declared in Rhondda Cynon Taf on Sunday, 24 November, amid fears of a more significant impact than the devastation of Storm Dennis in 2020.

Between 200 and 300 properties in the area were affected by flooding, with local leaders expressing surprise at the extent of the rainfall.

Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council, South Wales Fire and Rescue, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and South Wales Police declared a major incident for the borough on Sunday, with record river levels recorded on the River Taff on Saturday night.

In Conwy county, a body was found in the search for 75-year-old Brian Perry, who went missing while walking his dog during the storm on Saturday near the Conwy River.

In Cwmtillery, Blaenau Gwent, homes were evacuated following a landslip, leaving buildings deep in sludge and mud.

Five adults and five children had to be rescued from a house in Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog, near Llangollen, following a landslide on Saturday.

Two severe flood warnings, meaning there is danger to life, have been issued for the River Monnow in south-east Wales for Monmouth and Skenfrith.

A further eight flood warnings and 21 flood alerts also remained in place on Monday morning.

• Bute Park in Cardiff was closed after the River Taf broke it's banks and flooded the park.

Pontypridd severely flooded for second time in less than five years

Firefighters were pumping water out of Sion Street in Pontypridd, where several homes experienced flooded for the second time in four years, following Storm Dennis in 2020.

Residents have raised concerns about the level of warning they had.

Paula Williams, whose house on Sion Street flooded, said: "We only knew something was happening because we had a neighbour knocking us. She was shouting ‘get the cars moved’."

Ms Williams blamed NRW for not listening to them the last time there was flooding.

She said: "This time there’s only about four inches of water come in but it’s in exactly the same place that we told NRW about last time, and they didn’t do anything about it. They’ve tried to convince everybody that the flood defences worked. I have got videos proving the flood defences don’t work."

Ms Williams said the water was not coming over their walls and barriers, but up from underneath, forcing its way through their floorboards.

She added: "We had one flood alert (on Saturday morning) at 10 o’clock, which is just the general keep an eye out alert. We had the actual flood warning, which is the risk to flooding properties, at about 7.40am (on Sunday) morning but the river had already flooded, it was too late by then.”

Ms Williams said it was the work of their neighbours and them fighting to protect the homes that stopped the flooding being as bad as in 2020.

Nick Bettinson, duty tactical manager for NRW, said river levels were rising very quickly in the area due to “the intensity and duration of the rainfall on saturated ground in steep-sided valleys”, and a flood warning for the River Taff at Pontypridd was issued at 7.41am when the river reached “flood warning trigger level”.

Elsewhere in Rhondda Cynon Taf, council assets have been damaged, with Lido Ponty, Park and Dare Theatre and a number of schools impacted, while the Abercynon Feeder Pipe Footbridge over the River Taff - which was being rebuilt after being substantially damaged during Storm Dennis in 2020 - was completely washed away during floods on Saturday night.

Natural Resources Wales warnings will be reviewed

Warnings given to residents in Wales about the severity of Storm Bert by Natural Resources Wales (NRW) will be reviewed in the coming days, an employee has said.

Sian Williams, head of operations north west for NRW, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Monday the agency would look into whether any part of its data gathering for the storm had not been done correctly.

Asked if NRW gave Welsh residents enough time to prepare for Storm Bert with its flood alerts, Ms Williams said: “Coming on to today now and into the next few days and weeks, every event that we have we do reviews of them, and we will be looking at that.

“That is a report that we’ve had from a few different places, saying that their people didn’t have enough warning yesterday morning, so absolutely that is something that we need to look at.

“Did something go wrong? Were the river levels that we use as triggers set in the wrong place? We don’t know yet what the timeline was, but it is important that we review it, that we look at it, that we learn those lessons.

“If we need to do it sooner, then that’s definitely something that we will look at doing.”

• The Bailey Arms in Mountain Ash flooded as water levels in the town increased.

Questions raised about extent of weather warning

Rhondda Cynon Taf leader Andrew Morgan said the weather was worse than forecast and that he was “amazed” only a yellow weather warning had been issued.

At a press conference in Pontypridd on Sunday afternoon, Cllr Morgan said he was “amazed” that only a yellow weather warning had been issued by the Met Office.

“On Saturday we were preparing for the possibility of an amber warning,” he said.

“It didn’t come but we took the decision ourselves to step up our resources and have depots open and crews in.

“I am surprised there wasn’t a red warning issued. During Storm Dennis we saw an amber warning in advance and a red warning issued in the early hours. I do think that will need to be reviewed shortly.”

Met Office say Storm Bert was 'well forecast'

Simon Brown, services director at the Met Office, said: “Our thoughts are with those who are currently affected with the impacts caused by Storm Bert in south Wales, as well as the rest of the country.

“As always with a named storm, a full assessment of the forecast and warning strategy will take place with our partners. But this assessment is carried out post-event, therefore I would expect this to take place over the coming days.

“Storm Bert was well forecast, 48 hours in advance, with a number of warnings in place ahead of the system reaching the UK. We work closely with partners to assess the potential risks of extreme weather and the warnings covering Wales highlighted the potential for homes and businesses to flood with fast-flowing or deep floodwater possible, causing a danger to life.”

First Minister: 'This is absolutely devastating just before Christmas'

Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan said it had been “a really difficult weekend”.

She said: “I think this is the second time that many of those have suffered as a result of the storm. There’s been huge investments since the last storm hit, so we’ve managed to protect lots more properties than last time. But obviously this is absolutely devastating just before Christmas for those people who have been impacted.”

Asked if there will be emergency funding available to help people, she said discussions have already started, adding “and of course, we will do everything we need to do to put measures in place to support people who’ve undergone this really, really difficult situation”.

Baroness Morgan added that they have put “hundreds of millions of pounds” into flood defences over the past few years, which is helping to protect about 250,000 homes, but “clearly, climate change is going to impact on us, and there will come a point when it will be too difficult for us to protect every home in the country”.

A Welsh Government spokesperson said it will be “vital that people continue to take extra care over the coming days and follow official advice”.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said in a post on X that he had spoken to Baroness Morgan about the flooding in Wales and added that he is receiving updates on Storm Bert as it develops across the UK.

Transport routes affected as Welsh Water issues 'boil water' notice

Transport for Wales said all services between Pontypridd and Treherbert, Aberdare and Merthyr Tydfil are currently cancelled with disruption expected throughout Monday.

It added lines are closed between Hereford and Abergavenny due to a landslip with no rail replacement service available.

Welsh Water has issued a “boil water” notice to customers in 10 areas in south Wales, advising that their tap water may be contaminated because of flooding and must be boiled until further notice.

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