‘Human spirit has never been more alive than it has this week in Pontypridd’

IT’S a pleasant, sunny day in Pontypridd, temperate for this time of year, writes David Owens.

The sunshine glints above the hills that surround the town and the vista is that of a picture postcard.

The weather system has finally brought a much needed inner calm to the Valleys, a week after Storm Dennis wrought devastation in the town, a month’s worth of rain falling in a 24-hour deluge causing rivers to swell and burst their banks across the region.

Besides the Taff on Sion Street the scene is in marked contrast to seven days ago.

Then footage showed people emptying buckets of water back into the River Taff after homes were rapidly flooded, the river rising to unprecedented levels giving householders no time to act as water forced its way into their homes.

A large tree jammed to the opposite bank of the river is the first clue of the chaos that unfolded here a week ago when the inexorable, unstoppable force of Mother Nature devastated all in its path.

Looking at the river level of the Taff, it’s at least 12ft to the top of the bank, which gives you an idea of the staggering volume of rain that fell last weekend to cause the river to burst its banks and devastate the homes on the street.

What’s left now is both the visual and emotional effects of the flood.

Closer inspection of the road, pavement and walls of the rows of houses on Sion Street shows the unpleasant by-product of the flooding – mud and sludge is still much in evidence.

Many on the street have left their homes – due to them being unhabitable downstairs for the time being, either to stay with relatives or if in rented accommodation to be rehoused.

One of those still remaining is 56-year-old Kevin Kidner.

A butcher in Pontypridd Market he’s resolutely philosophical about what he’s been through, and determined to bounce back from the ordeal he and his neighbours have suffered.

Clearing tiles from his kitchen floor into a nearby skip when I approach him, he tells a harrowing story of watching helplessly as the sheer force of the river burst its banks and washed all before it.

“It was around 11pm on the Saturday night and I could see the river rising and there was water on the road, so I moved my van to my son’s

house who lives up the road behind me,” says Kevin, who owns a butchers business in Pontypridd market.

“There’s a grass embankment opposite and when that disappears below the water level then you know the river is very high.

“Within 20 minutes it got to our front doors and just kept on rising coming into the house where it kept climbing until there was three or four feet of water in the house. The water was also forced up through the drains on the front of the street to the drains behind so we had four feet of water in our gardens also.

“It started coming through the front of the house, so we started to try and clear that. It was coming through the back and all the way through the house. We just decided there was nothing we could do – we just gave up.

As light dawned on the street, neighbours helped bail water out of each others homes.

Then helped arrived and didn’t stop. At one point there were more than 70 volunteers on the street in a show of community, that if nothing else reaffirms your faith in humanity at a time when it’s vitally needed.

“It’s been fantastic, we can’t thank people enough,” says Kevin. “Everybody on this road has helped each other.

“Even children came around with buckets. They worked solidly for hours – they were just brilliant. I know in times of crisis the community comes together but the support has been brilliant from everybody.”

Luckily Kevin has insurance and is covered, but he knows the clean-up will take weeks.

Inviting me into his house, it’s the damp smell that hits you first. Then there’s the low thrum and hum of dehumidifiers and industrial strength blowers drying out the empty shell that is the lower half of his home.

The dad of two is philosophical about his plight but says it hits him when he wakes up in the morning.

“The hardest is getting up in the mornings thinking you’ve got to go to work and then you walk through the upstairs and everything is fine, but it’s when you come downstairs that it hits you, that feeling of ‘oh god look at this mess.’”

And if there’s anything to take away from this disaster it’s the strength and of the community and the bonds that tie people together.

The human spirit has never been more alive than it has this week in Pontypridd.