The flood-hit communities that are feeling abandoned and forgotten
For some of those hit by flooding during Storm Dennis, it wasn’t the first time. And they say local authorities haven’t done enough so far. Lewis Smith and Ffion Lewis report
STORM Dennis tore through Wales last weekend, leaving hundreds of people’s homes ruined by floodwater.
A month’s worth of rain fell in 48 hours, people were evacuated from their homes and towns and streets across the country were deluged – but for some, the destruction came as no surprise.
While police declared the flooding a major incident and severe weather warnings were in place, some people living in the Valleys have felt the wrath of floodwater for decades.
The situation is so dire in some areas that one street in Aberdulais has flooded about 30 times in four years.
First Minister Mark Drakeford has said the Welsh Government will be spending £350m on flood defences over the next Assembly term, but residents in some of Wales’ worst-hit areas say local authorities haven’t done enough up to this point. We spoke to some of them...
Llanhilleth, Blaenau Gwent
Kathleen Donoghue, 62, has lived on Meadow Street in Llanhilleth since 1985, and says she has never seen this kind of flooding in her 35 years at the Blaenau Gwent property.
She said: “I woke up at around 2am because I could hear the commotion and water running in through the back door, then when I looked out the front it was like a river running down the middle of the street. It was very scary and when I could see it was getting deeper I knew we had to leave.
“I waded through the water and went to my cousin’s house who lives nearby, but the full effects didn’t hit me until I went back the next day.
“When I saw the mess in the house I just sobbed my heart out, as I’ve lost everything from my downstairs. From my fittings and furniture to cooker and fridge, it’s all gone and
I’ll have to start again from scratch.
“I’m currently staying at my cousin’s house while the rooms dry out, but am very disappointed with the lack of help we’ve been offered. We might not live over in Pentre where most of the damage was done, but we’ve just been overlooked down here and its not fair.
“No-one’s really come around to check on us or offer us a hand with anything, so we just feel we’re on our own.”
Gavin Broome, 41, moved last October from Newport to Llanhilleth, where he rents a property on Meadow Street. He says he has now been left in a state of limbo after several feet of water rushed through his home, and is now waiting to get the all-clear to return from his landlord.
He said: “It has been a bit of a nightmare, to be honest, as the property doesn’t have any electricity until the surveyors say it’s safe for us to turn it back on. Structurally, the house seems to be okay but they don’t want to take any risks.
“Like many others, I’ve lost a lot of furniture and appliances from the water, but also things like photo albums that carry a lot of sentimental value. I can’t get those back and it makes me very sad.
“I’m back at home with my mother in Newport now until it all gets sorted, though no-one seems to know how long that will be.
“We have had some support from the people in the local institute providing us with cleaning products and a place to have a warm, but other than that there’s not been much help at all.
“Llanhileth is a lovely place to live so I hope I can get the power back on and get back to normal as soon as possible.”
Newbridge, Caerphilly
Tricia James has lived on North Road, Newbridge, for more than 30 years. In that time, she has had to move out on one occasion due to flooding and says she worries every time it rains.
The 58-year-old, who lives at the property with her husband Gary and their dog, says she was warned against buying the property in 1989 due to flooding.
“I remember when we bought it my dad saying, ‘You don’t want to buy that house, it floods’ but we did and within that first year he was right, it did flood,” she said.
“I’ve been living here since 1989, and in 30-odd years I’ve been here we always get floods. Every time it rains heavily we’re worried.”
Tricia says they remained in the property as long as they could, hoping somebody would come and help or pump the water out, but as the water continued to deepen the pair
decided to leave.
“The water was about 3ft deep when we left, we had to wade through it.
“We waited until midday on Sunday, thinking somebody would come and help us or pump some water out, but nobody came.”
Now, Tricia says she has had enough and thinks the houses should be knocked down due to the problem.
“I think people need to wake up to the problem here. These houses need knocking down. Every time we’re told something’s going to be done, but it never is,” she said.
For years and years it’s been going around in circles as to who takes responsibility.
The last time residents had severe flooding in the street resulting in people leaving their properties was about 10 years ago. During those floods, Tricia moved out of her house for more than a year.
“Last time it flooded so badly that we had to leave was about 10 years ago, but even then it wasn’t as bad as this.
“Last time we had to move out for nearly a year. This is the worst it’s been since I’ve lived here.”
Tricia says about seven properties on North Road were affected by the floods over the weekend.
“All had several feet of water. All of our ground floor is damaged. We have a ground-floor bedroom too, so everything is affected.
“Both of our cars were written off too – it’s been a nightmare, to be honest.”
Councillor Philippa Marsden, leader of Caerphilly council, said: “Our dedicated crews have been battling with the elements doing all they can to keep residents safe.
“They have been working in extremely difficult conditions responding to an unprecedented number of calls for assistance from the public.
“I would like to thank all those involved, including frontline staff, care workers and those dealing with the huge volumes of calls behind the scenes. I would also like to thank our residents for their support and for the sense of community spirit that was on show throughout the disruption.
“We are now clearing up, assessing damage and ensuring that all those affected are able to get the support they need at this difficult time.”
Troedyrhiw, Merthyr Tydfil
Kai Long has lived in his property on Tydfil Terrace, Troedyrhiw, for 12 years.
The flooding has been devastating for his family – not only does the entire downstairs need replacing, but their pet dog died in the floods.
Kai was away on Saturday night and says he couldn’t believe the scene he was faced with on Sunday. He says the whole street has been affected by the flooding.
“I couldn’t really believe what I was seeing, I just thought, ‘Where do we even start?’,” he said.
“Then when Mam said about the dog, I just couldn’t believe what was happening.”
The 38-year-old lived in the property alone and has always called the village his home.
As is the case for most areas affected across Wales, the flooding has strengthened the sense of community among residents. Kai says the neighbours have been invaluable to those suffering.
“It’s been more neighbours that have been coming together rather than the council, everyone’s been coming together. Our whole street is just full of rubbish and furniture that everyone has been gathering together outside. Everyone’s been a huge help.
Despite being near a river, the last time the street experienced flooding as severe as at the weekend was about 40 years ago.
“I don’t think it was even the river that caused the flooding, the river doesn’t look like it’s over-flooded at all. The drains are constantly blocked, so I think it’s more likely to have come from that.”
Kai says everything on the ground floor in his house will need replacing.
“It was all through the ground floor, from the bathroom all through the house – it’s going to need a total gut job,” he said.
“There was a fair few feet of water. More than anything, though, our dog died. We’re devastated – some things you can replace, but that’s just irreplaceable.”
Merthyr council released a statement about the recent flooding: “In Merthyr Tydfil, the impact of Storm Dennis started to be seen on Saturday evening with landslides appearing in various locations across the county borough.
“In the early hours of Sunday morning it became apparent that due to flooding, various properties needed to be evacuated and we worked with the emergency services to protect the public and our two rest centres were activated.
“Our frontline crews continued to deal with the emergency throughout
Sunday into Monday, with our flood response being coordinated from our emergency control room.
“A major clean-up operation is currently under way. Twelve vehicles have been deployed to the worstaffected areas to clear bulky items and flood damaged goods. These collections will continue as and when needed.
“A 50-strong team of staff have been deployed within the community and have been knocking doors in the areas we know have been flooded in order to gauge what help is needed and to identify vulnerable individuals. We have also set up dedicated web pages for victims of the flooding to seek advice, guidance and let us know what help they need from us.
“We are also working with partner organisations such as Merthyr Valleys Homes and Merthyr Tydfil Housing Association, community groups and volunteers, as part of this recovery operation.
“We will continue to do everything we can to support our residents. We are currently working with Welsh Government to look at the distribution of an emergency fund for flood victims, further information on which will be made available as soon as possible.”