TRAIL OF DESTRUCTION
Storm Eleanor leaves damage and disruption in her path...
Storm Eleanor left a trail of destruction after she battered Wales yesterday – bringing down trees, closing roads and causing travel disruption.
The storm swept across the country overnight on Tuesday carrying heavy rain, hail and winds of up to 79mph.
A total of 36 flood warnings were in place yesterday morning, relating to high tides, while motorists experienced travel disruption after the M48 Severn Bridge crossing was closed to all vehicles at one stage yesterday, along with the A487 in Fishguard, the A4109 in Aberdulais, and the A477 Cleddau Bridge.
A pregnant woman who had gone into labour early was flown to hospital by helicopter on Tuesday as Storm Eleanor began whipping across mid Wales.
The expectant mother was collected from a makeshift landing site at the coastal town of Tywyn at around 5.30pm after Mid and North-West Wales Coastguard sent a helicopter from its base in Caernarfon.
In a post on its Facebook page, the coastguard said: “Despite the appalling conditions Coastguard Helicopter Rescue R936 was able to make the trip safely and took the lady, who was accompanied by her midwife, to hospital.”
Wales rugby coach Shaun Edwards stepped in to help a mum-of-two who was panicking when her car broke down on the M4 near Pencoed on Tuesday.
Stranded mum Margaret Richards, 46, did not even know who the good samaritan was until a firefighter told her it was the Wales international defence coach.
She said: “I was soaking wet and crying my eyes out and trying to flag cars down. All of a sudden someone came out, at that point I was quite hysterical. I was begging him not to leave
me.
“He was trying to calm me down and told me to get away from the car. There were cars coming from both directions with the slip road so how his car didn’t get smashed is unbelievable.”
Edwards, who took Mrs Richards told safety and called the emergency services, said: “She was a lovely lady. We just got out and waited for the fire services to arrive.”
In the Vale of Glamorgan, a driver was taken to hospital after he crashed into a tree that was blown down right in front of him. Phil Williams suffered a broken nose, sternum and ribs after the crash near Hensol after police, fire and ambulance crews were called to the scene just after 10pm on Tuesday.
Phil’s son said:”My dad described it as a falling shadow that he could not avoid and he hit the tree.”
In Barry, a young family had a lucky escape when the roof of their house blew off. Matthew Venables, his girlfriend Natasha Selby and their sons, Louis, one, and eightweek-old Theo were in the house sleeping when the roof came off – leaving a gaping hole in one of the bedrooms.
Matthew said: “When I turned the light on in the bedroom, there was a big hole in the roof. The police came and knocked on our door and told us it would be safer to get out. We went to family who live two streets away.”
In Cardiff, the storm brought down a tree which landed in a front garden in Llanishen belonging to an 84-year-old woman in the early hours of yesterday.
Emily Fletcher said: “It happened to my 84-year-old grandmother. The tree luckily just missed the house and only damaged the wall. We were very lucky.”
The Carmarthenshire community of Laugharne was left flooded. In footage recorded on a dashcam, tidal water could be seen in the centre, where shops and properties had a lucky escape.
Elsewhere in the UK, around 2,500 homes between Cornwall and the Midlands were hit by blackouts largely due to flying debris, Western Power Distribution said.
A body was also recovered from the sea near Splash Point in Seaford, East Sussex, yesterday, after it was spotted at around 8am.
Flooding risks could remain for coastal areas for several days, the Environment Agency has warned, as it urged people not to attempt “storm selfies”.
Flood duty manager Neil Davies said: “We urge people to stay safe on the coast - take extreme care on coastal paths and promenades, and don’t put yourself in unnecessary danger trying to take ‘storm selfies’.”
The stormy weather is now set to settle down, with Wales seeing some more wet weather when showers sweep across the UK today.