The £1000 Community Flood Recovery Grant is now available for residents and businesses who have been subject to internal flooding during Storm Bert. Please visit our website to apply: www.rctcbc.gov.uk/FloodingHelp
We are asking people to apply so we have the correct bank details for those impacted so payments can be processed as quickly as possible, but also so we can provide additional support such as council tax and business rate exemptions and arrange collection of damaged items from properties with no on-street skips.
Welsh Government has today confirmed additional payments of £1000 for uninsured households and £500 for insured households impacted by internal flooding. We will use the details provided to us by impacted residents to also make the Welsh Government payment.
Council staff continue to be out making contact with residents who are dealing with the devasting impact of flooding to support them. Almost 150 properties have been contacted since Monday morning. There may be more isolated incidents of internal flooding that have not been reported to the Council, so we are unaware. It’s important that people in those properties also have access to the range of support.
We will continue to work with other organisations to provide additional support to impacted residents, such as Citizens Advice and the British Red Cross, who are out with Council staff.
We have currently confirmed 125 properties were internally flooded, less than ten times what was experienced in Storm Dennis. However, the impact on residents and businesses is just as significant, and we are here to support them.
Our Flood Risk Management team is conducting investigations where flooding has occurred to better understand how and why different flooding incidents have occurred. Currently, over half of flooding incidents resulted from main river flooding including Mill Street, Sion Street and Berw Road in Pontypridd.
As an organisation, we are responsible for managing flood risk from surface water through our drains and gullies and small watercourses, which we manage through council-owned culverts. Meanwhile, Natural Resources Wales is responsible for river flood defences, warnings, and alerts.
We have a legal duty to investigate all flooding incidents in our area, whether or not flooding is a result of river flooding, privately maintained watercourses, or Council maintained drains and culverts.
However, we will need to work with other organisations such as Natural Resources Wales, Dwr Cymru Welsh Water, and also owners of privately maintained watercourses, to better understand what could or can be done to reduce the risk to properties and ensure that whoever is responsible can act on the findings.
Since Storm Dennis, we have spent over £100 million to improve culverts and other assets and repair damage. Where those investments have been made the majority of this newly-installed infrastructure held out and protected a large number of properties that would have otherwise been flooded. There is more that we want and need to do, and we already have a comprehensive programme of culvert upgrades ongoing.
As has been the case since Storm Dennis in 2020, we will continue to prioritise investment in infrastructure that we are responsible for, and it is important to recognise that these investments have protected hundreds of properties and businesses across Rhondda Cynon Taf.
The clean up at Ynysangharad War Memorial Park and Lido Ponty continues, and as such the park will remain closed until at least Thursday. We will provide a further update on the park on Thursday afternoon.
We have had no requests from residents for emergency housing, but our Housing team is available to those who need our help.
The Bwlch Mountain Road to Nantymoel, Bridgend, has now reopened after a landslip caused by Storm Bert.
Posted on 27/11/2024