Sting in Ciara’s tail causes more misery
ASHARP sting in the tail of Storm Ciara heaped a second day of weather misery on Wales. Snow in north Wales added to yesterday’s weather woes after what has been described as the “storm of the century” struck over the weekend.
The old M48 Severn Bridge crossing was closed in both directions after a lorry overturned during a “sudden spike” in strong winds.
Across the UK, the storm claimed at least one life – a motorist in Hampshire, whose car was hit by a falling tree as he drove his Mercedes on the A33 from Winchester to Micheldever just before 4pm on Sunday. The driver, a 58-year-old man, of Micheldever, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Closer to home, Ciara blew the roof off a house in the south Wales Valleys, causing massive damage. At one stage
yesterday, Natural Resources Wales had 15 flood warnings and 37 flood alerts in place after Ciara’s rains deluged Wales and battered it with winds of up to 93mph.
Rugby fans heading back from the game in Ireland continued to have travel problems following Sunday’s headaches. Flights were cancelled and delayed and some had to find alternative ways home.
As temperatures dropped, police in Gwynedd warned of “severe snow” in the Bala area yesterday afternooon and said that routes were blocked. There were reports of heavy snow on the Horseshoe Pass in Denbighshire.
Western Power Distribution – which covers the Midlands, the South West and south Wales – said around 4,000 homes were still without power yesterday at 4pm.
In England, the Government activated an emergency financial aid package for some flooded areas.
The Bellwin scheme, designed for England only, aims to help pay for rest centres, temporary accommodation and staff overtime.
Flights, ferries and trains all faced disruption as the UK struggled to deal with a second day of rough weather and recover from Sunday’s storm.
Met Office meteorologist Bonnie Diamond said yesterday: “Storm Ciara has cleared but it is still windy. There is the risk of snow and ice depending on where you are. There is very much hazardous weather still around.”
A yellow warning of snow and ice was in force for north-west England.
Across the UK, there were 73 flood warnings in place as of 3.35pm yesterday.
In Wales, several roads that were closed by flooding on Sunday reopened yesterday.
Conwy council leader Sam Rowlands said his authority would investigate why Llanrwst was flooded again on Sunday – even though river defences held firm.
Plaid Cymru councillor Aaron Wynne criticised the council for the way storm culverts are maintained.
He claimed that once debris had been cleared from the culverts, water levels subsided almost immediately.
Cllr Rowlands said: “We will do a full investigation. That’s going to happen. We will look into it as soon as possible. We want to make things as safe for our residents as possible.
“It was a terrible day for residents and businesses across the county. I’m very grateful to our staff and people in the local communities for the way they dealt with the situation in the most atrocious weather conditions.”
Homes and businesses were hit with up to four-and-a-half feet of water after the flood. Cars were also writtenoff after one car park saw more than a dozen vehicles submerged.
The M48 Severn Bridge lorry incident saw one man being taken to hospital. His condition is not known, but is not thought to be serious.
The accident on the eastbound side happened shortly before 11.40am.
Motorist David Evans was travelling toward Wales in the opposite direction when the lorry “toppled over” on the opposite carriageway.
“It just went, so I stopped and ran over to help the driver,” said David, from Caerphilly. “I held him up until another motorist who was a doctor arrived on the scene and the emergency services. It looked like he has a broken nose and a cut to his head.
“The driver was totally shocked. He said ‘I don’t know what happened’ and then was concerned that others might have been injured.
“We told him no-one else was injured and waited with him until the emergency services arrived at the scene.
“It was extremely windy on the bridge, the lorry was sheltering us, but we could hardly stand up in the wind. I had to be escorted off the bridge because the winds were over 50mph.”
Drivers were advised to use the diversion via the M4 Prince of Wales Bridge.
Highways England, which looks after the bridge, said yesterday the closure could be in place “for some time”.
The bridge itself was also thought to have suffered damage.
In Rhondda, Ciara blew the roof off a house in Penygraig, causing extensive damage.
Colin Woolford was fast-asleep over the weekend when his wife woke him up in a panic.
Pictures of their house show extensive damage to the roof, multiple leaks and various cracks in the ceiling throughout the property.
Despite the roof being renewed only around seven years ago the strong winds over the weekend caused a large part of it to blow away.
Colin said: “I worked Saturday night and came home and went to bed at about 5.30am. Then my wife woke up just gone 12, saying ‘quick, quick, the roof has blown off’.
“I jumped out of bed, got the electricity off and started making everything safe.”
On the railways, a replacement bus service remained in place yesterday between Machynlleth and Aberystwyth, and on the Cambrian Coastline between Machynlleth and Pwllheli.
Rail customers were advised to check their journey arrangements before travelling.
Elsewhere across the UK, parts of the West Yorkshire communities of
Mytholmroyd and Hebden Bridge, which were devastated by flooding four years ago, were deluged.
River levels peaked on Sunday just below the record levels of the 2015 Boxing Day floods which caused millions of pounds of damage to houses and businesses right along the Calder Valley.
More than £30m has been spent on flood defences in Mytholmroyd since the 2015 deluge.
Early reports from the village were that some of the new defences held, but many homes were still inundated.
Airlines operating to and from UK airports were also affected by the weather conditions, with more than 100 flights cancelled.