Pontypridd residents make frantic efforts to protect homes as river floods

On Sunday, the River Taff surged through the heart of Pontypridd, spilling over its banks and flooding residences and shops.

Sion Street, located alongside the river in the heart of the Valleys town, experienced flooding, causing dirty water to invade several row houses. Residents struggled to remove water from their front yards using plastic buckets, while others hurriedly piled sandbags at their doorways.

Firefighters arrived and started using water under the historic Old Bridge, built in the 18th century, as locals stepped in to provide food and drinks for the emergency personnel.

This marks the second occurrence of significant flooding on the street in Pontypridd within a span of four years.

Ian Dewhurst jumped into his car in Salisbury, Wiltshire, located about 100 miles away, after getting a call from his upset daughter. She had just moved into a house on Sion Street two weeks prior.

The floodwaters hadn't quite entered her house yet, but as Dewhurst pointed, the water level was just inches away from overflowing the sturdy metal floodgate that safeguarded the property.

"Two weeks ago, when she moved in, the river was several meters lower," Dewhurst remarked, indicating the rushing water. "Luckily, our daughter has some friends from Cardiff University who work at the hospital and came over to help us move furniture and other things. Still, it’s not exactly what we hoped for."

At the moment, Dewhurst is prioritizing helping his daughter, but he thinks there was a mistake in the flood assessment conducted when he bought the property, as it did not indicate the potential flood risk to the home.

“I was a bit taken aback to discover that the flood in 2020 had gone unreported – yet many of these homes sustained damage,” he mentioned, while nearby residents climbed over the walls in the front yard, as it was the only way to leave the street.

Shelters were established for those impacted at the Pontypridd library, the Ystrad sports facility, Sobell leisure centre, and the Cynon Valley indoor bowls centre. Additionally, in other areas of the town, homes on Berw Road and businesses on Mill Street were compromised.

Steve Western made the decision to shut down his office on Mill Street. “We’ve emptied everything out and switched off the power. The stores behind me have suffered more since they are in a lower area,” he explained. “Now, we’re pretty much just waiting for the water to go down, and then we’ll assist in cleaning out the other shops.”

Pontypridd was one of the towns greatly impacted in southern Wales. The local council of Rhondda Cynon Taf, along with the South Wales fire and rescue services, Natural Resources Wales, and the South Wales police, announced that they were dealing with a significant emergency in the area.

The council reported that flooding was substantial, with the effects appearing to be greater than those caused by Storm Dennis in 2020. Towns like Cwmbran, Ebbw Vale, Aberdare, and Abergavenny also experienced the aftermath of the flooding.