A devastated 90-year-old woman faces moving from her home for the second time in two years due to severe flooding in her street. Residents of Arfryn Terrace in Tylorstown, Rhondda Cynon Taf, were woken up early on Thursday to water in their homes.
Margaret Reed, 90, who has lived in the street for 67 years, said this was the second time her home had been destroyed. She said she was on the phone with her son when she realised the water had seeped into her living room from underneath the fireplace.
Speaking on Thursday she said: "I went downstairs and saw that the water had come through the fireplace all through the living room. My neighbours and friends came over this morning to get rid of my carpet because it was squelching as we walked on it." Margaret said her new carpet was only placed down less than 18 months ago and she will need to get a new one again after it was destroyed by the flood.
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The last time this happened she had to leave her home for six weeks while her home was being repaired. She added: "This is the second time this has happened in 15 months. Last time my insurance company paid for me to stay in a caravan for a month in Porthcawl then I spent a week at Trehafod Hotel and a couple of days in the Seabank.
"It is upsetting because I can't stay here – I'll have pneumonia. I'm going to stay with my son for a few days. The social workers have said they'd rehouse us but I'd rather stay with family during this." Margaret said that she also worries that her insurance costs will go up and she could be made to pay hundreds to once again restore her property.
Her neighbours have also been affected by the water. One resident, who wished not to be named, said that waking up to inches of water from the flood at 5.30am was "devastating", The resident said that items such as rugs, lamps, shoes, and furniture had been destroyed by the water as they were busy still cleaning up six hours after the flood.
Another resident said that the flooding was "random" as some homes in the street weren't affected. The resident moved to the property last September and was forced to remove the kitchen flooring on Thursday morning. She said: "I woke up at 5am and saw all the water in the kitchen. The fire service came really quickly and we managed to pump it out. It leads to questions though as we don't think the culverts were cleared, which caused the flooding last time." The council has denied this was the case.
Wayne Matthews, 70, who has lived in the street for the last 48 years, said his home was also affected by the flood. He claimed they had previously raised concerns about the issue to the council but alleged "nothing has been done". He said: "It's not a culvert running off the mountain – it's a ditch. There's a massive job that needs to be done there."
A spokesman from Rhondda Cynon Taff Council said on Thursday: "Investigations are ongoing to determine the cause of the flooding at Arfryn Terrace and we have every sympathy for those affected by flooding today. Council officers have been on site to survey damage, with further visits to the area tomorrow, and officers from our housing and community teams were on hand to assist flooded residents.
"The culvert was periodically monitored and was not blocked during the storm. However the volume of water was so significant that the culvert was simply unable to cope with the amount of rainfall. Around a month’s worth of rain fell in less than a 24-hour period. The development of a scheme to alleviate the flood risk to this area has commenced and is being developed. The council has applied for Welsh Government funding to continue the scheme's development in 2023-24.
"Climate change is resulting in more frequent storm events than ever before and for this year alone (2022-23) more than £6.4m Welsh Government funding is secured for Storm Dennis works plus around £3.9m for flood alleviation works. Improving resilience to flooding continues to be a priority for the council with more than £14m spent on infrastructure upgrades and £20m on storm repairs in recent years since Storm Dennis in 2020."
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