Homes in Valley street are hit by more flooding
HOMES in a Valleys town were hit by flooding in the early hours of yesterday following “extreme” rainfall and a pumping station failure.
Residents in High Street, Treorchy, which was also affected by floods in June, were woken at 4am to water entering their homes and the sound of house alarms being set off triggered by a power cut.
Debbie Mackey, who lives on High Street, said she spent the night awake listening to the rain and checking the front and back of her house.
She said: “The electric went off, there was a power cut, that can’t be helped. I could hear all the alarms and then I heard banging on my door.
“All night I was awake because I could hear the rain and I was watching the back of the house and then the front of the house.
“My husband opened the door and the water was up over the pavement.”
Debbie’s home was severely flooded in 2013, when flash floods hit the area following a failure at the local pumping station.
At that time she was forced to move out as all her furniture and the house were contaminated with human faeces.
“It didn’t come in my house this time but it did in June.
“It can’t go on like this. It is only autumn now, what is it going to be like in the winter months?
“We’ve had sand bags outside our house since June.
“I won’t rest if they’re not there.” Anne Rich, who also lives on High Street, spent most of Wednesday night awake worrying about the rain with her husband, who is ill, until her dog started barking at around 4am as a neighbour banged on her door.
She said: “With all the heavy rain I didn’t sleep anyway. You think it’s going to happen again. You can’t settle.
“I went down to the front and as I opened my glass door (to the passageway) the water was coming in to meet me.
“I grabbed towels, slammed my front door and rammed the towels against it.
“The last time it happened [in June], I had carpet in the passage and I couldn’t get rid of the smell for months.
“I got vinyl because I thought it’s cheaper to replace than carpet.”
Neighbour James Lewis said his home was previously flooded in June as well as in 2013.
“This time it was only in the passageway,” he said, pointing at the flooring which has damaged beading.
“My first thought yesterday when I looked out was not again. Every time it rains we worry.
“The sandbags they gave us we haven’t taken them away since June, even through all the sunny weather we had.”
The 31-year-old, who lives with his partner and two children, rushed downstairs in the early hours to warn his neighbours and stop water coming in.
“It was a couple of inches coming into the house, but when you look how far that is from the road, it is a lot, the water was up to around my knees outside.”
Several streets in the Rhondda were battered by floods following Storm Dennis in February and many residents live in constant fear every time it rains.
Welsh Water yesterday confirmed a power cut temporarily affected a pumping station.
The pumping station is used to take away stormwater. A spokesman said: “Following extreme rainfall overnight, we received reports of flooding early this morning in Treorchy and immediately sent a team to investigate.
“Once on site, we found that a power cut across the local area had temporarily affected our pumping station.
“The pumping station, which is used to take away stormwater, was restarted.
“As part of our preparation for the heavy rainfall, our teams had visited the pumping station yesterday and it was working as expected.
“While we will continue to investigate what happened, we are contacting Western Power to understand why the local power supply was interrupted.
“We are sorry for any distress this may have caused and will work with any residents that may have been affected.”
By noon the street had dried up and the rain had stopped but stones and sand were strewn across the pavement along with other waste lying next to the roadside drains.
Rhondda MS Leanne Wood said: “It is devastating for those affected by yet another flooding event in the Rhondda this year.
“The homes on High Street in Treorchy have been flooded previously and some had only just finished repair and renovation work.
“This is no way for people to live; with the constant threat of flooding whenever there is sustained rain.”
She added the Rhondda become “flood prone”.
“Despite promises from the council and other authorities about getting to the bottom of the problems, it keeps happening.”
Ms Wood said she had been informed of flooding in Pentre, which has been hit by flooding several times this year.
Rhondda MP Chris Bryant has called on Boris Johnson to deliver the promised funding to Rhondda for essential repairs following the floods that have taken place this year.
He said: “We need financial support and we need it now.” has