Appeals exceed £50,000

ANOTHER spell of persistent rain threatens to cause further flooding in waterlogged areas of South Wales tomorrow.

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for the area from Cardiff and Swansea northward to Llandrindod Wells and the A44.

It’s set to come into effect at 3am tomorrow and last until 3pm, as the weather system moves from west to east across the country.

A widespread 20-40mm of rain is predicted, with as much as 50-60mm reaching a few spots in the mountains of south Wales.

According to the forecast, the rain “may be especially persistent over Mid and South Wales, which contains catchments which are currently saturated and highly sensitive to further rainfall”.

Flooding of homes and businesses is possible as a result of the weather, as well as delays to bus and train services.

Dan Suri, chief forecaster at the Met Office, said: “With further rain in the forecast over the coming days and the potential for another deep low-pressure system early next week, additional rainfall could create further challenges as river catchments are more likely to respond to extra rainfall more quickly.

“Flooding, especially in areas already heavily affected, remains a possibility.”

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) is urging people to take extra precautions this weekend.

Jeremy Parr, head of flood incident risk management at NRW, said: “The forecasted rainfall will be much lower than last weekend but could still lead to flooding impacts as river levels recover from last week’s storm.

“We’re advising people to take extra care over the weekend, especially while travelling, and to stay up-to-date on the latest flood alerts and warnings by phoning Floodline on 0345 988 1188 or by checking our website.”

The Prince of Wales has heard of the devastation caused by flooding to businesses and homes in South Wales.

Charles met with residents and business-owners in Pontypridd, where 80 shops have been flooded in the centre alone.

It is estimated that 1,100 properties – both residential and commercial – have been affected in the Rhondda Cynon Taff area.

The heir to the throne first spoke to Emma Jamal, 40, the owner of KooKoo Madame, a boutique shop that was filled with 4ft of water in the early hours of Sunday.

Mrs Jamal arrived at the shop, which she has owned for 12 years, at 6am on Sunday to find it “completely devastated”.

“Literally every piece of furniture, every piece of stock, has gone in the skip,” she said.

“Hundreds of thousands of pounds. It is gone. It has taken us years and years to build up the stock.”

She showed Charles a line on her wall, showing how high the water level had been.

The Prince heard how 50 residents from Trivallis housing association have required temporary accommodation due to their homes being damaged.

It will take some up to an estimated eight months to return to their homes, though some do not wish to go back.

Mrs Jamal told the Prince she empathised with how those residents felt.

“It’s the fear. I can’t sleep at night, knowing the sheer force that has come to this building,” she said.

WELSH actor Michael Sheen’s fundraiser for the victims of the flooding in South Wales has more than tripled his original target.

He had hoped to raise at least £10,000 for the flood-hit communities from the crowdfunder – but the GoFundMe campaign had raised nearly £35,000 from about 1,300 donors by yesterday evening.

All the money raised from the campaign will go to the Wales Council for Voluntary Action, which Sheen has been the president of since 2017.

It will then be distributed to communities across Wales, with those worst affected taking priority.

He is not the only high-profile star raising money.

She had insurance but her policy does not cover damage from flooding, as the shop is in a high-risk area.

The Prince asked aides to take Mrs Jamal’s details to see what could be done to assist her.

Charles walked down Pontypridd’s high street, where many shops are closed due to flood damage.

He went into The Prince’s cafe, which has been open since 1948, and saw how water had ruined the basement where bread is baked.

The Prince met with emergency workers and council staff at the Municipal Building, as well as residents and landlords affected.

Richard Oliver, 43, whose home was flooded in the early hours of Sunday, said: “He asked us how we were coping, if we had a cooker and if the toilet was working.

“We’ve lost the carpet but it’s the area around our house that has been really damaged.

“It is a bit of a war zone up there at the moment.”

Mr Oliver described wading through waist-high water to rip up fences between the houses on his street in an attempt to divert the floods away.

“The water went from my ankles to my thighs in 30 seconds,” he said.

Nigel John, the director of Pontypridd Market Company, told Charles how 14 of his shops had been flooded.

Welsh rock giants Manic Street Preachers have dug deep to help the Pontypridd flood relief fund.

The band have made a donation of £3,000 to the online crowdfunder set up by Pontypridd MP Alex Davies-Jones.

The fund, which also includes a donation of £1,000 from the Royal Mint in Llantrisant, now stands at £25,000 after starting out with an initial target of £5,000.

The music community in South Wales have rallied round to raise money for those affected by the floods and for two music venues, The Green Rooms in Treforest and Clwb Y Bont in Pontypridd, whose businesses have been hit by the aftermath of Storm Dennis.

“He mentioned this being the moment, re-establishing the shop units, to start to insert flood mitigation elements such as tiled flooring and sockets being lifted up beyond flood levels,” Mr John said.

Andrew Morgan, the leader of Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council, showed the Prince around Pontypridd, which he described as “badly hit”.

“He was keen to ask the insurance brokers here about what more could be done about supporting businesses who maybe can’t get the right insurance because of their location,” Mr Morgan said.

“Everyone was pleased to see him. I think it is a bit of positivity in the town in what has been the worst week in decades.”

Mr Morgan told Charles how the previous record level for the River Taff, set in 1979, had been surpassed by 3ft during Storm Dennis.

The Prince previously visited Pontypridd with the Duchess of Cornwall to open Pontypridd Lido, which is now estimated to have suffered £1.5m of damage.

It is estimated that 550 homes and 505 businesses in the Rhondda Cynon Taff area have been affected by flooding, a figure expected to rise to 1,100 when all damage is reported.

Mr Morgan said seven bridges, both footbridges and highways, in Pontypridd had been condemned due to the storm.

There is an estimated £30m of damage to infrastructure in the county.

Meanwhile, the residents of Pentre, Rhondda, are still clearing up following the flooding earlier this week.

The felling of trees by NRW has been claimed by locals to the cause of gallons of water cascading down from the nearby mountain after debris left by the cutting ended up blocking the culverts.

A culvert is a man-made structure that channels water around an obstruction or relieves drainage from agricultural land.

NRW’s duty tactical manager Bill Purvis has said the organisation will be undertaking a full investigation into what has happened.

He said: “This will ensure that we understand fully what has happened, what lessons can be learnt and make improvements to ensure we avoid any reoccurrence in future. This will include reviewing the adequacy and appropriateness of our land management arrangements. This review is a substantial piece of work, given the breadth and extent of the recent flooding event.”

Pleasant Street and Lewis Street were hit hard in the early hours of Sunday by Storm Dennis, and on Wednesday some of those living in Pleasant Street were flooded yet again after another, lower drain became blocked with debris.

Though an investigation is welcome, Lewis Street resident Chris Saunders said: “What I need to happen next is NRW need to put their hands up and accept liability and if they don’t want to do that, another idea is they can make an interim payment to residents, similar to what Dwr Cymru has done in Porth.

“They then need to have discussions with Chris Bryant, Leanne Wood, myself – maybe a committee of residents – to figure out how to take matters forward and then look at what steps can be taken to stop this happening again.”

Chris, his wife Abigail who is six months’ pregnant, their two-year-old daughter and their dog, were trapped upstairs at home for about 14 hours as floodwater sat downstairs after coming in through the front and back of the house as well as through their neighbour’s property.

The family was due to exchange contracts with a buyer on their Lewis Street home; now they won’t be able to get back into the property for six months, a loss adjuster for their insurance company has said.

“We could visibly see that the trees were being felled, but it didn’t really cross my mind that it would be a prob