Residents of a Welsh town have described their Christmas as 'destroyed' after torrential rain caused severe flooding, with children waking to find water gushing into their homes.
Devastated families on Hunter Street in Briton Ferry, Neath Port Talbot, were forced to use buckets to bail out floodwater yesterday morning after presents under Christmas trees were soaked. Sandbags proved inadequate as cars were submerged, drains overflowed, and living rooms and kitchens were deluged.
Christmas Morning Devastation
For Robert and Catherine Jones, who have two young children, the festive period was shattered when the ground floor of their rented home flooded. Their five-year-old son, George, walked downstairs to find water pouring through the front door and a window.
The water level reached 2ft, leaving furniture floating in the living room and submerging the kitchen, bathroom, and garden. The family's Christmas tree, ornaments, toys, a train track, and photo albums were all ruined. They had to book a hotel for an emergency overnight stay.
Nearby resident Chris Toma reported that despite a fire crew clearing the street around midnight, water was 'inside the house' by the early hours. "There was water up to the first step of the stairs," he said. "We got most of it out but a lot went under the laminate floors. We'll have to take the flooring out."
Motorists Accused of Worsening Crisis
Locals have accused some drivers of exacerbating the situation by driving through the floodwater, creating waves up to 2ft high that crashed against properties.
Daniel Popp said: "People are so inconsiderate. Even after pleading with them not to go through the water they completely ignored myself and others and made things two times worse. The waves coming off the cars were about 2ft high."
Businesses were also impacted. Svetlana Lilley, owner of the Wool&Silk Art Studio, said sandbags by her door were not enough. "The water was too high," she explained. "It went into the studio... flooding in from the front and back."
Further Warnings Issued Amid Widespread Disruption
The situation could deteriorate further after the Met Office issued a new yellow rain warning for South Wales and South West England, valid from 10am to midnight on Wednesday. Forecasters predict up to 25mm (1in) of rain widely, with 60mm (2.4in) possible over higher ground in South Wales.
This follows an amber warning issued yesterday, which led to road closures and blocked railway lines. Elsewhere in Neath Port Talbot, Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service rescued a person from a car stuck in floodwater in Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, about 15 miles away.
A Neath Port Talbot Council spokesperson stated: "All resources have been and are being deployed... with property flooding and high speed road flooding being prioritised. Our crews have been very busy clearing drainage infrastructure and delivering sandbags."
Nationally, the Environment Agency had 21 flood warnings and 106 alerts for England today, while Natural Resources Wales imposed two warnings and 14 alerts. The Met Office noted that some weather stations recorded huge totals in the 48 hours to 9am yesterday, including 360mm (14in) at Honister Pass in Cumbria.
Met Office spokesman Stephen Dixon said while rain would ease for many today, a return to wet and windy conditions on Wednesday would "once again top up rainfall totals in already sensitive areas in south Wales and the South West of England."
