On a late-november weekend a quiet Welsh town got an unwanted wake-up call. The river Taff in Pontypridd rose so fast that nobody saw it coming (which led to a real-mess for locals)
Holly Clark watched helplessly as water rushed into her ground-floor home in just 15 mins; she had to carry her two-year old through knee-deep water to safety. “Everything that weʼve worked so hard for is gone – within a matter of 15 minutes‚“ she said. Her daughters birthday gifts got ruined and now shes sure – they wont return to live there
Local folks on Sion Street got flood alerts when water was already at their ankles: thats way too late. Paula Williams who lives near-by pointed out: nobody brought sandbags or other help before the storm hit. About 4 years back Storm Dennis flooded 158 homes here; seems like not much changed since then
The town council leader Andrew Morgan blamed Met Office for giving only yellow-level warning; while Met Office says they told everyone 48hrs ahead. Natural Resources Wales – the flood-watch group didnt send warnings in time which made locals super-mad
- No early warnings sent
- Late emergency response
- Missing sandbags delivery
- Poor communication between agencies
Prof Hannah Cloke from Reading University thinks yellow warnings need a fresh look: “It could be that even senior people on the ground dont properly understand the information that they are being given“
Welsh first minister Eluned Morgan checked damaged businesses saying climate change makes storms more common – but protecting every home might not be possible. Meanwhile locals clean thick mud off their walls wondering if their homes are worth saving to officials