Calls for full review of system used to warn people of flooding threat after Storm Bert damage

The leader of Rhondda Cynon Taf Council, whose area was severely affected by Storm Bert flooding, has called for a full review of the warning system operated by Natural Resources Wales.

NRW has come under criticism after the flooding, with some residents in Pontypridd - which suffered severe flooding in 2020 after Storm Dennis - saying warnings only came after the River Taff broke its banks.

A total of 433 properties were impacted across Wales, as well as infrastructure, after the substantial wind and rain brought by Storm Bert. Between 200 and 300 properties were affected in Rhondda Cynon Taf alone.

Councillor Andrew Morgan said data from water level monitoring stations shows that warnings did not come early enough on Sunday, 24 November, and that "something is fundamentally wrong" with the warning sending system.

"The suggestion is that the system worked from their side, they say that the trigger points that are set for the warnings to be issued were met, but that means that there is a fundamental issue with the trigger points for the warning system," he said.

"If they just looked at own gauges they should have seen at 6.30am on Sunday something seriously going wrong.

"Something has fundamentally gone wrong with the warning system here in Pontypridd."

NRW has committed to reviewing the warnings issued to residents about the severity of Storm Bert, while Cllr Morgan is calling for a "joined-up review" by all the agencies involved.

"What we need to make sure of is the outcome in terms of the preparedness, the response on the time, which seems to be reasonable in terms of the response, but actually it's the warning system I have the concerns with," he said.

"And I have to say, I think when I met with the NRW (on Tuesday), they conceded, and they did acknowledge that there needs to be a review, and maybe the trigger points that they do use are not correct.

"My view is, as things currently stand, if we had another storm next week, if the Met Office issues a yellow warning and the flood guidance statement isn't updated, and NRW uses the same process, then this could happen again.

"Everybody has to be held to account in terms of the organisations.

"The staff I've been dealing with in NRW, I think, have been very open and very frank about some of the conversations we've had over the last 24 hours in terms of leadership of the organisation. I think that's for others to decide."

It comes after First Minister of Wales Eluned Morgan insisted flood defences protected thousands of homes after Storm Bert battered the country.

Eluned Morgan said fewer homes were flooded at the weekend than in previous years, insisting a “significant number” of people were protected. However, she said better flood warnings will be needed in the future.

Baroness Morgan said: “NRW issued 131 alerts and warnings, including two severe flood warnings, with over 95,000 messages sent and 46,000-plus customers being reached. So they did quite a lot. The question is, could they have done more? And that is something, clearly, that will need to be analysed."

What has Natural Resources Wales said?

David Letellier, head of South Wales Central operations at Natural Resources Wales, said: "In the lead-up to any significant rainfall event, we work with our colleagues at the Met Office and the Flood Forecasting Centre (FFC), and use the modelling and forecasts available to us to ensure our teams are prepared and ready to respond.

"Our rainfall and river gauge network are also constantly in operation. Given the uncertainty around the potential impacts of this event, we took steps from Wednesday last week to make sure our response team rotas were well staffed and prepared to tackle whatever the storm would bring.

"Our message to professional partners and the public from Wednesday last week ahead of Storm Bert was that significant flooding was possible across Wales and to be prepared."

He said NRW took an "active approach" to communicating updates on the expected and actual impact of Storm Bert.

"On the Friday before the storm, we issued a widely used press release warning of potential widespread flooding," he said. "Throughout the event, we provided regular updates on the most serious flood warnings via social media channels, which were widely shared by partner organisations, public figures such as politicians, and concerned members of the public. To ensure clear communication of the risks and impacts, we established a robust spokesperson rota, enabling us to conduct over 25 interviews with major local and national media outlets across radio and television.

"NRW worked with our multi-agency partners including the Wales Warning and Informing Group to highlight the need for proactive communications about the forthcoming storm. We used social media to highlight the potential for signficant flooding impacts to the Wales Community Flood Volunteer network via Facebook.

"This was a significant event and the naming of the storm by the Met Office reflected its potential impacts - including flooding. The impacts were predicted to be significant but with uncertainty about precise location of impact.

"Over the course of the storm, we issued two Severe flood warnings, 66 flood warnings and 65 flood alerts across Wales which went to over 46,000 properties.

"While all parts of Wales felt the impacts, the amount of rainfall that fell across south Wales was particularly significant. We issued a flood alert for the River Taff at Pontypridd on Saturday giving people advance warning that flooding was possible, and to be prepared.

"Early on Sunday morning, a very intense, localised area of rain fell in the Taff catchment, with up to 160mm recorded at some locations.  A flood warning was issued – which advises that flooding is expected, and immediate action is required - for the River Taff at Pontypridd at 7:41am on Sunday when the river reached the flood warning trigger level.  

"There were also two severe flood warnings issued - which means there is a danger to life - for the River Monnow at Skenfrith - issued at 3.05pm on Sunday and the River Monnow at Forge Road, Osbaston - issued at 3.06pm on Sunday.

“The intensity and duration of the rainfall on steep-sided valleys mean that river levels rise incredibly quickly. The River Taff rose 300mm every 15 minutes at the height of the rainfall. The limited period between a flood warning being issued and impacts being experienced underlines the rapid response of the Taff to the intense rainfall.  Our warnings are issued when flooding is expected to make sure people have advanced warning and are prepared, but we also have to strike a careful balance between issuing warnings and giving communities false alarms."

He said new systems had been introduced since the Storm Dennis floods of 2020 to improve the speed of issuing warnings, message clarity and the levels at which NRW issues them.

"These stood up to the test of Storm Bert, but we cannot change the rate at which some of our rivers will rise when there is locally intense and torrential rainfall," he said. "As we do after every serious flood incident, we are carrying out our own proactive recovery and review work to ensure that we can learn any lessons from the experience and use those learnings to make any further improvements necessary."

Financial support for flood victims

It comes after Baroness Morgan used First Minister’s Questions on Tuesday to announce new financial support for those whose homes were flooded over the weekend.

The funding will allow affected households to receive grants of £500, or £1000 for those without insurance.

The First Minister also faced calls from Plaid Cymru to demand more funding from Westminster to improve coal tip safety, but she said it would be “difficult” to spend more than the £25 million given this year.

She insisted lessons had been learned since Storm Dennis in 2020, with £300 million having been invested in defences and support.

“I think that it is important to note – particularly in places like Rhondda Cynon Taff, for example, where last time about 2,000 homes were affected – this time around 150 homes were affected,” Baroness Morgan said.

“That is a significant number of people who were protected as a result of the investment that went in by the Welsh Government — thousands of people were protected because of that investment.

“I accept that that is very little comfort to the people who were affected, and I know how devastating, just before Christmas, this must be for them, but we did learn lessons, and we have put in massive investment.”

Baroness Morgan described it as a “devastating weekend for many” and said there will be further lessons learnt, particularly over whether NRW could have put better flood warnings in place.

Her comments followed questions from Andrew RT Davies, leader of the Welsh Conservatives, who said there could have been more preventative measures in place with greater warning.

Mr RT Davis argued there had been a “failure to learn the lessons and implement an alert process” after Storm Dennis, with the same streets affected in both floods.

“Many people indicated in some of the most severely affected areas in Pontypridd that the first that they realised the flooding was taking place was when neighbours were going from house to house banging on the doors,” he said.

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said coal tips, like the one in Cwmtillery, which saw a landslip cover homes in mud and sludge, needed “to be made safe and urgently” and more money was needed from Westminster.

Baroness Morgan said it was a 10 to 15-year project and “not something you can put in place overnight”.

She said: “There will be limits in terms of being able to absorb additional money because there will be limits in terms of expertise, equipment.

“So if they gave us the money, it’d be very difficult for us to use it all up because of the lack of expertise, which we need to build up.”

The First Minister said she was “very confident” more funding would be available in the future.

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