NEW FLOOD MISERY
Valleys homes hit for third time in four months:
PEOPLE in parts of the South Wales Valleys have been forced to flee flooded homes for a third time this year – after heavy rain and thunderstorms lashed the region for two days.
The village of Pentre, near Treorchy, was the worst affected following flash floods, four months after the area was devastated twice by flooding during Storm Dennis.
Thunderstorms brought torrential downpours and flash-flooding to the region on Wednesday evening, before more bad weather swept in yesterday.
Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) Council said it would “respond proactively” after almost 200 properties were hit by flooding overnight on Wednesday, with emergency and highway crews sent to assist residents.
Fire service crews spent some five hours pumping water out of homes in Pentre, while local builders’ merchants handed out sandbags to use in properties.
The community had already suffered major flooding twice in less than a week in February.
It was estimated at the time the clean-up would cost up to £5m after a blocked culvert saw houses submerged.
But residents have now suffered the fresh heartache of seeing their houses fill with water again as thunderstorms brought heavy rain.
The rain saw drains overwhelmed and waters accumulate around properties in Lewis Street, Pleasant Street, Price Street, Volunteer Street and rush through houses on Treharne and many other homes in the Rhondda village that has had its fair share of misery in 2020.
Pentre wasn’t alone, with properties hit in High Street, Treorchy, North Terrace in Maerdy as well as streets in Treherbert and Ton Pentre.
A call for volunteers was issued to help with the clear-up at Maerdy Primary school, where the main hall and nursery were hit by the flooding.
The local community came together to help out those who have been flooded.
A building supplies company provided sand and bags at various locations yesterday morning.
Unlike February, this time the streets were relatively clear of pooling water.
But when the Echo visited yesterday we found residents wanting answers – answers as to why the drains weren’t working effectively and what is happening with the pumping station at the heart of the flooded area.
Sue Crudge is a Lewis Street resident who has rented a few streets away on Volunteer Street since her home was wrecked in the early hours of February 16.
Like many of her neighbours, building and redecoration work was close to being completed as the latest round of torrential rain hit.
“It’s horrendous, to be honest with you, I’m still in remission from cancer, this on top, my nerves have had it,” said the grandmother-of-one.
“My son has had to postpone his wedding, we were supposed to go to Cyprus in September.
“It’s one thing on top of another. And I just want to give my granddaughter a big cwtch.
“There has to be a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Sue, who works at a special needs school in Aberdare, was initially concerned about her Volunteer Street neighbours being flooded.
“I called the fire brigade because I was worried about next door and they asked me if I was getting any water in... I walked out the kitchen and it was just coming in,” she said.
“I grabbed a load of towels and then I had a call from my neighbour in Lewis Street saying, ‘you need to come here now, it’s flooding again.’ “Well, I have to be honest I just broke into tears – I didn’t know what to do.
“I called my husband in because he was out the back trying to unblock the drain, thank goodness they went down to Lewis Street and it hadn’t been flooded, as we’d just had a new kitchen in.
“I don’t know how I’d have coped if it had. I was panicking, I could see my home coming together and I was thinking ‘please don’t happen again, please.’”
Aysha Powell’s house in Pleasant Street was ruined by floodwater in February too.
This time floodwater got into her garage and she barely managed to save her brand new kitchen being stored in there.
The Greggs manager said: “It was gutting, on your own trying to strip all the carpets, neighbours helped, it’s devastating and it’s a long process.” She added: “If this has happened in half an hour in June – what’s going to happen in December and January again?”
Another Lewis Street resident, Ian Henry, was away when the street flooded in February, and although his family are having to rebuild their ground floor, Ian’s thoughts on the flooding are put into perspective by his concern for daughter Chloe.
“We were away in Aberystwyth that weekend, when Storm Dennis happened. My daughter was here and called me at 8am on a Sunday morning – and if your daughter calls at that time, you know there’s a problem.
“It’s gutting, but I was more concerned about my wife and daughter. My daughter is still having panic attacks. In February we’d only just found out she was pregnant, and when her face came up on my screen I thought the worst, when she said the house had been flooded, I thought ‘thank God.’
“At the end of the day, it’s material stuff, that’s how I’ve got my head around it. If it had happened again I’d be gutted, but as long as everyone is safe that’s all that matters.”
But both Ian and Sue are after answers, they both note that the drains weren’t working properly in the area and Susan’s family also struggled getting hold of sandbags.
Ian said: “There’s clearly an issue with the drainage here, personally, I think.
“All the silt and the mud that was left
People are angry and frustrated that this has happened twice already this year Leanne Wood MS
behind, they did a great job of clearing the pavements but all that mud has gone down the drains, coronavirus came and we get the best spring I can remember, it’s probably gone rock hard down there now, like concrete.”
Sue added: “The council really need to sort it out. Apparently the pumping station didn’t switch on.
“I’m really, really angry and disappointed in the council. My son went down to fill up sandbags and they wouldn’t let him.
“We shouldn’t have to be totally flooded out to get sandbags, we should get them when it starts.
“They still haven’t sorted a problem and we can’t go on like this.”
Round at Canolfan Pentre on Llewellyn Street – a hub since Storm Dennis for those needing cleaning products and lockdown goodie bags for children – general manager Buffy Williams spoke about the mood in Pentre after what the past four months have brought.
“Frustrated angry, sad, upset, it’s been a reall difficult few months, made worse by the coronavirus situation and more flooding on top hasn’t been great,” she said.
“There needs to be a big meeting of minds to find the cause and a solution; we can’t go on like this.
“People are not going to want to live in Pentre, we’ll end up with three streets of houses no one will want to live in.
“It’s unfair to people who’ve lived there all their lives.
“It’s a rubbish situation that needs a solution and needs one quickly.”
James Parry, 26, from nearby Treorchy, said his uncle’s home was badly affected by flooding.
He said: “The council have been out attempting to flush the drainage overnight, and it seems to have worked for now.
“But this flooding only happened a few months ago.
“Something needs to be sorted so this doesn’t continue to keep happening.
“I personally don’t think the tree felling which has taken place all over the mountainside has helped the situation either as this used to act like a natural absorbent for the rain.
“However, now the trees are no longer there, that rain water is running straight off the mountainside and into the sewage systems which clearly can’t cope.
“Natural Resources Wales, I think, need to step up and take some accountability for this also.”
He added: “Typical Welsh community, we all pull together.
“Just hope this doesn’t happen again any time soon!”
Local councillors Shelley ReesOwen and Maureen Weaver praised local volunteers and also called for a public enquiry into the floods.
“The current pandemic has made things all the more difficult but local volunteers have again been immense,” they said.
“Residents are rightfully angry and need answers and for that reason the Plaid Cymru group has called on the council to appoint an independent qualified person to lead a public inquiry into the floods throughout the county since storm Dennis.
“Many residents feel unsafe in their own homes. The place that during the pandemic should feel the safest place to be. We need answers and urgent action.”
Plaid Cymru MS Leanne Wood, who represents Rhondda, said residents were “angry and frustrated” and called for an urgent inquiry into why homes flooded so quickly in the village following heavy rainfall just after 6pm on Wednesday.
The area had experienced a period of dry and record-breaking sunshine over the previous weeks, but she said locals had told her that drains were still clogged up with silt from the last floods caused by Storm Dennis in February.
She said: “People are angry and frustrated that this has happened twice already this year.
“For some households, they have been flooded more than that. I share that anger and frustration – it is not acceptable.
“What is needed is urgent assistance from the various authorities to prevent further flooding.
“Sandbags, which were not forthcoming from the council initially, need to be delivered to every home that is at risk of further flooding throughout this spell of heavy rain.
“It should not be down to builders’ yards to provide the sand needed to make a flood defence – but that is what happened in the vital first 12 hours of this flooding.
“The drains also need cleaning urgently as this has been identified as a cause of flooding in many areas.”
RCT Council leader Andrew Morgan said: “In response to significant localised flooding to almost 200 properties across the county borough, the council has deployed additional resources to support the local authorities’ highways crews and to assist the emergency services.
“The flash flooding caused by Wednesday evening’s severe thunderstorms has unfortunately impacted upon communities which have already experienced the devastation of flooding earlier this year.
“As a council we will seek to respond proactively to this situation, to support these communities and residents which have been impacted.”