TRAVEL CHAOS AS STORM JORGE HITS
HEAVY rain flooded railway lines and roads causing chaos across sodden south Wales yesterday as Storm Jorge hit.
“It’s not good news” for flood-hit communities, forecasters said, as Jorge threatened further heavy rain and strong winds all weekend.
Parts of Wales were forecast to see between 50 to 80mm of rain yesterday, the Met Office warned.
A Met Office yellow warning for rain is in place until 6am today.
But a yellow warning for strong winds – 70mph in coastal areas and up to 60mph inland – is in place until noon tomorrow.
When asked about the weekend’s weather prospects, Met Office forecaster Emma Salter said: “It’s not good news I’m afraid, given all the recent rainfall we’ve had.”
In south Wales, steady downpours led to the suspension of trains in and out of Cardiff Central, leading to rush hour chaos for commuters.
Rainwater flooded the railway line at Llanharan and parts of the village also saw large amounts of surface water spilling onto the roads.
The car park at Pontyclun Railway Station, along the same line, was under water.
Roads between Pontyclun and Llanharan were also flooded and there was flooding on the railway line at Skewen, meaning some lines towards Swansea were blocked.
Other train lines affected included the Merthyr, Rhymney and Ebbw Vale lines, Cardiff to Bridgend and Swansea to Port Talbot.
Oxford Street in Nantgarw was also closed due to flooding between Parc Nantgarw and Castle Bingo.
There were two crashes on the M4 at Newport in heavy rain.
And many schools across the region shut early due to flooding fears.
Arrangements were made for pupils at St Richard Gwyn Catholic High School in Barry to leave early.
A flood warning issued by Natural Resources Wales was in force for the River Ewenny at Cwrt Gwilym, Pencoed, and Ewenny Village.
Bridgend council leader Huw David said: “Calls are coming in from all over the county regarding issues caused by the heavy rainfall and adverse weather, and we urge people to take care while out on the roads.
“A number of our schools have closed at lunchtime today. Highways teams and fire crews are currently in attendance at Llangeinor Road, Garw Valley with the road currently closed due to flooding.
“We are monitoring the river levels across the county, including in Bridgend town centre where we are ready to put the flood gates up if required.”
He added: “Our staff will be working around the clock to help keep the county borough safe and moving, and arrangements for standby crews, machinery, a JCB and chainsaw operators have been made to cover through Friday night and Saturday during both the day and the night.”
Sandbags were being deployed to residents and business across the county.
Neath Port Talbot council was also handing out sandbags to residents in “high-risk” locations.
Numerous roads in the county were affected, including locations in Ystalyfera, Briton Ferry, Margam, Glynneath and Baglan
NPT council classed yesterday as a ‘Flood Day’, meaning highways, drainage and neighbourhood teams were all responding to calls and were out at separate locations clearing culverts in anticipation of more rain.
NRW warned of the risk of significant river and surface water flooding over the weekend.
A flood alert was issued on the River Taff, which breached its banks two weeks ago causing extensive damage to homes and businesses.
The river gauge for the Taff at Pontypridd, which was badly affected in the wake of Storm Dennis, showed the river level was still low as of noon yesterday, but with heavy rain forecast overnight there was concern for possible flooding.
Several warnings were also in place for the River Cadoxton at Dinas Powys and the River Ely at Peterston Super Ely.
Jeremy Parr, NRW’s head of flood incident risk management, said: “Coming so soon after Storm Dennis, we are particularly concerned that the forecast is for significant levels of rain in south Wales. This could have impacts again in the eastern valleys of South Wales and everyone should take the warnings extremely seriously.
“We are working hard to make sure communities are as prepared as possible and urge people to take care and make arrangements to be safe.
“People are advised to take great care if you need to travel.
“If you are out, take extreme caution and never drive or walk through flood waters. Keep an eye on the forecast and visit our website for the latest information on flood warnings. You can find practical advice on flooding on our website too.”
■ Information and updates are also available by calling Floodline on 0345 988 1188.
■ People can also register for free flood warnings either by calling the floodline number or on NRW’s website www.naturalresources. wales/flooding