Residents have been left devastated after their homes were flooded for the third time since Storm Dennis in 2020. There were dozens of flood alerts in Wales on Thursday, warning that flooding was possible, and Rhondda Cynon Taf council urged people to only drive if "absolutely necessary" due to hazardous driving conditions and surface water across the borough.
Russell Thomas, 60, of Blaenllechau, has been flooded out once again and is attempting to dry out his home. He said his home was flooded during Storm Dennis in February 2020, then again two weeks later, and now he has been affected once again. "I woke up at 4am and I could hear water. Two hours later the water came through and ruined the carpet," he said.
Russell said that after Storm Dennis he had taken temporary measures to stop his home from flooding again. He said: "We previously put a second drain in ourselves after the first storm and that was working fine as a temporary measure while we waited for Natural Resources Wales to fix the issue.
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"The issue is that NRW has a wall between mine and my neighbour's property and until they come to take it down, and put a new wall in, we can't put any more measures in place to stop the water flooding down into our homes. It's been three years and three carpets later. Well – what can we do?"
Russell said that he was "lucky" to be able to save his belongings this time as last time he lost everything. But he said that he could be out of thousands of pounds this time around due to hiring equipment to remove the water and putting down a new carpet. To save his home from the flood Russell has also made his own pumping station to pump out the water from his living room.
Elen Morgan, of Blaenllechau, is Russell's neighbour and said this flood had been "absolutely destroying." Elen added: "We're lucking it's not 4ft deep but it still ruins everything. You make a home and think it's safe but things out of your control take it all away." Elen said that a new flood door had been fitted to her property but the water had seeped through from underneath the step.
Elen said that NRW have previously been in touch regarding the wall with plans in place for the work to begin before Covid delayed the process. Since then Elen and Russell have been waiting for the wall to be rebuilt. Natural Resources Wales were contacted for comment.
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