After the flood

Relief as UK's first climate refugees head for safer ground

- Bethan McKernan Wales correspondent

When Storm Dennis hit the UK in 2020, a wall of dirty, frigid water from a tributary of the Taff threw Paul Thomas against the front of his house in the south Wales village of Ynysybwl. He managed to swim back into his home before the storm surge changed direction, almost carrying him out of the smashed-in front door.

"I was holding on to downpipes to stop myself being dragged out again. It was unbelievably strong, the water," he said. "You're sitting on the stairs watching it come up each step and wondering when it's going to stop."

Life on Clydach Terrace, next to the river of the same name, has been difficult ever since, Thomas said. Heavy rain or amber weather warnings mean no one on the street can sleep. "There's so many triggers that take us back to that night ... Even now, [my grandson] has a problem when it rains."

Clydach Terrace is one of the most dangerous places in the country, classified as "high risk to life" by the flooding management authority. The residents' six-year nightmare ended last week when Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) council voted to buy 16 of the street's 18 houses for £2.6m, and the doomed homes will now be demolished.

It is believed to be the first time anywhere in the country that such drastic measures have been taken as a result of the climate emergency, earning the road's residents an unenviable moniker: the UK's first climate evacuees.

This group of about 40 people could be a cross-section of any street. The terrace is home to a teacher, a contractor, retirees, NHS employees, a children's carer and office workers who commute to Pontypridd and Cardiff.