Rhondda Cynon Taf Council Statment Statement following the recent severe weather
Following this weekend’s adverse weather, the Council is currently undertaking a massive clean-up operation across the County Borough.
Just like the rest of Wales, and other parts of the UK, Rhondda Cynon Taf experienced severe weather from Thursday, October 11 to Sunay, October 14.
Official figures from the Tower Colliery rain gauge recorded 180mm of rainfall over Friday and Saturday (October 12-13). The Glanaman rain gauge recorded 136.4mm of rainfall for the same period.
While it appears that all the new flood defences and flood reduction measures the council invested in and installed in recent years worked in our high risk areas, however many other areas were badly affected.
Our Highways and Streetcare teams, supported by Cleansing Crews, have been out throughout the adverse weather dealing with a huge number of calls from the public relating to flooding issues.
The same team also undertook proactive measures in the run-up to the predicted severe weather. The Council assisted the emergency services all weekend and the Council’s social media channels provided regular update to the public throughout.
The Council estimates the financial impact of this weekend’s severe weather to be already over £100,000.
This weekend saw:
- 2,500 sandbags delivered by the Council
- 45 members of staff work overtime throughout the weekend
- 187 calls received, relating to flooding (from Friday to Sunday)
County Borough Councillor Andrew Morgan, Leader of Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council said: “Our County Borough has experienced unprecedented rain-fall in the tops of the Rhondda and Cynon valleys this weekend, estimated to have delivered the worst flooding impact in the last 30 years, hitting the Cynon Valley particularly hard.
“The clean-up operation has already begun across Rhondda Cynon Taf and is ongoing.
“Frontline Council staff worked tirelessly over the weekend to tackle and respond to the huge challenges this weather event caused. This hard work follows days of proactive activities to prepare as best as possible for this severe weather.
“A number of culverts throughout Rhondda Cynon Taf exceeded their capacity with homes being flooded, with some residents having to be evacuated as a result of excess water.
“Surface water caused severe disruption to motorists, with many roads closed as a result of flooding. Upon the advice of the emergency services, the Council was advising the public to only travel if absolutely necessary and not to drive through any flood water.
“The financial impact of this first severe weather event of the winter is already estimated to be in the region of at least £100,000 and, as a result, we will now need to respond urgently to investigate and review locations where flooding has taken place.
“I have asked for an urgent report to be considered by the Cabinet later this week and to make emergency funds available to consider how we respond to this.”
