Storm Callum’s £3m repair bill
Cost of fierce weather that brought chaos to West Wales
DAMAGE caused to roads in Carmarthenshire by Storm Callum is expected to cost £3 million to repair, council leader Emlyn Dole has said.
Mr Dole said this sum was an initial estimate, and that he expected the A484 at Cwmduad to be closed for some time following landslides on October 13.
Speaking at an executive board meeting on Monday, he said specialist teams had been drafted in, including divers, to assess dam- age to infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the council has re-homed seven families whose properties were flooded, provided dehumidifiers, carried out free electrical safety tests and also set up a furniture appeal in conjunction with Johnstown-based Xcel Furniture. Mr Dole said around 160 householders had been affected and that he had visited Abergwili and Pensarn to see the aftermath for himself.
THE people of Carmarthenshire knew that a storm was coming.
Yellow weather warnings for rain and wind had been issued for the west of Wales and trains from Carmarthen to Swansea had been suspended.
There are areas of Carmarthen town centre that are used to high water.
The Quay, home to a hardware store, a riverside restaurant and a few other businesses, are often hit first when torrential rain falls on Wales’s oldest town. Their location, yards from the River Towy, makes them inevitable victims of flooding.
But what happened on Friday, October 12, and into the following day took everyone by surprise. Not since 1987 had the town seen scenes like this. This was different.
By the afternoon of October 13, Pontargothi Bridge, around seven miles outside Carmarthen, was closed. The pub that sits beside it was flooded.
By the Saturday evening homes were ruined and businesses were under water. One eyewitness told how he was stood on the ancient Towy Bridge, which leads into the town, when he felt it shake. This was real.
Pensarn Road, home to a number of large and small businesses, a stone’s throw away from the river, was a river itself, as was the village of Abergwili, on the outskirts of town.
The normally peaceful and tranquil Towy had transformed into a swollen and unruly beast that ran through the middle of Carmarthen.
Walking the streets in the days that followed it was almost eerie to see how serene it all was – the ultimate calm after the storm.
Roads and bridges reopened, pathways were dry, and people ambled the streets against a sunny, autumnal backdrop.
It was as if nothing had happened – but the damage will linger for weeks and months.
One of the most seriously affected businesses has been Bassetts Citroen garage in Pensarn Road.
Situated in the eye of the floods, the garage had dozens of vehicles parked outside. The staff there did all they could to limit the damage but some things were beyond saving.
Around £400,000 worth of stock was ruined within hours. “Those cars are never going back on the road,” said Eifion Williams, general manager at Bassetts.
“They’ll be taken away, broken up, and dismantled. Once water has got into the vehicles, that’s that.
“The build-up of water was so rapid that within no time at all the road was covered in water.
“Staff were worried about whether they’d be able to get home so we did everything we could to save as many vehicles as possible and then we closed at about 1.15pm on the Saturday. By 3.15pm we had a call from Natural Resources Wales to say that the flood alert had been escalated so we came down here and tried to move a couple of the cars.”
Eifion and his team of 18 staff all rallied together in the days that followed and just days later, everything was back to normal – except for the 32 new vehicles outside that will never be driven another mile.
In all his 15 years at the garage Eifion has never seen anything like it.
“This is by far the worst flooding the town has seen since 1987. We’ve had alerts from time to time about rising river levels but nothing like this, and it all happened so quickly. All those cars, everything that was out the back – finished.”
It’s amazing to think that, less than a week later, the company is back open and operating normally.
Life here goes on and the hard work of the staff has ensured that even a £400,000 hit can’t knock the spirit of the company. By Wednesday it was business as usual.
That hard work has been evident throughout the region, none more so that at the Cresselly Arms. The pub is next to the River Cothi and its owners don’t have insurance against flooding. When the water began to rise on Friday night and into Saturday morning the landlady thought “that was it”.
“When I looked out of the window and saw the water outside I feared the worst – I thought we’d be closed for months,” said Amanda Philpin, who took over the country pub with her partner Gary Trickett in July 2016.
“On the Friday night, just after we’d finished serving food, we took everything out of the dining room. We didn’t sleep at all that night. We knew it was going to be bad.”
Nevertheless their worst fears, however grave, could not have lived up to the reality.
By the Saturday morning the windows of the pub were barely visible from the outside. The beer garden, with recently-laid decking and a play area for children, had become an extended part of the Cothi.
To look at the pub then, and to walk around inside today, is to realise the magnitude of the work achieved by Amanda, Gary, and the community. Incredibly the pub reopened seven days after such grave damage was inflicted.
“We have to give a huge thanks to the community because so many people have come together to help us out,” said Amanda.
“Local residents have been here and their attitude has been: ‘Well, it’s happened, let’s just get on and fix it’.
“Companies like Castell Howell and Morton’s Fine Foods have helped us so much. The fact that we’re opening a week later is amazing and is testament to everyone’s hard work and support.”
The immediate carnage may have only lasted a couple of days, and the water may have now disappeared, but the longterm damage could be harder to shift.
“I had a sleepless night the other night,” admitted Amanda.
“It was drizzling outside, only drizzling, but I couldn’t help checking to see how bad it was raining. I feel silly now, but I couldn’t help it.” Amanda’s partner Gary is even looking on the
bright side of the fact that insurance companies just will not cover the premises against flood damage.
“One way of looking at it is – if we had insurance it might have taken months to sort it all out, but doing it this way at least means we can just get on with it,” he said.
‘Just getting on with it’ seems to be a common theme among the people hit by flooding.
Back in Carmarthen, a much-loved chip shop and cafe has been closed all week after rain crashed its way through fridges, freezers, cooking ranges, and electrics.
Hagan’s Cafe & Chip Shop, located in Pensarn, was open as normal last Saturday morning. The popular cafe was busy with workers and those enjoying a weekend breakfast when the weather took a turn for the worse.
“We could see the water rising and we were told we had to get out – it all happened so quickly,” said owner Lilian Hagan. “This cafe has been here for nine years and we’ve never seen anything like it before.”
A lot of her stock has ended up in a skip outside the cafe and this ruination, together with damage done to equipment, has cost the business thousands of pounds.
“I assumed I would lose absolutely everything but my electrician has been so good and we’ve managed to save some things,” said Lilian.
“I’ve lost a couple of fridges and freezers and my cooker, but my main concern is for the staff.
“I’ve got 14 people working here altogether, full-time and part-time. They’ve been so good to me – they’ve been in every day since it happened, helping, trying to get things back to normal, but it hasn’t been easy.
“We’re lucky in a way because it could have been worse.”
Lilian has launched a GoFundMe appeal to raise enough money to be able to reopen her beloved business.
Buildings insurance will cover damage to the property itself, but with no contents insurance, the equipment she needs to bring Hagan’s back will run into the thousands.
“Just when you think everything is fine this happens,” she said.
“I don’t know where else I can turn – I don’t think I will be able to do this on my own so I am asking for help.”
Despite her fears for the future, Lilian opened the cafe, at the rear of the property, at the weekend but the chip shop at the front could be closed for some time.
All of this hardship pales, however, in comparison to the anguish felt by the family and friends of 21-year-old Corey Sharpling, who tragically died last Saturday evening after being hit by a landslide in the Cwmduad area of Carmarthenshire.
Possessions and earnings can be replaced – a young man’s life cannot.