Nine flood alerts in past month - but couple can't get protection

PETER and Kay Williams will never forget the sight of a vinyl record, titled "DON'T PANIC", bobbing atop the water that was rapidly rising up the stairs of their home.

- CONOR GOGARTY

The album, a recording of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, was one of countless items ruined by Storm Dennis in February 2020.

The Williams' house was among more than 100 flooded in the Rhondda Cynon Taf village of Nantgarw.

After being rescued by a fire service boat, the couple had to spend a year away from their beloved home, which was so badly damaged that their insurer came close to knocking it down. Their car was written off and they lost many sentimental items.

Unsurprisingly Peter, 61, and Kay, 63, are terrified of history repeating itself.

So when their daughter Louise McSweeney, who lives in Treforest, was recently offered floodgates for her property by Rhondda Cynon Taf council, she hoped the same would be available for her parents.

"They've not been the same since the flood," she said. "Recently we visited and the weather was quite bad. I could see my mum and dad were worried. The stress whenever there's heavy rain is horrible."

But the council told Louise her parents' house, in Rhyd-Yr-Helyg, was ineligible for floodgates because it did not suffer internal flooding during Storm Bert last year, and only two properties in their street did.

But Louise had been offered floodgates despite her own home not flooding in Storm Bert. In fact, only a couple of the houses in her street were flooded, she said.

When the Western Mail approached the council for comment, its spokesman said decisions on eligibility are made by Natural Resources Wales - which then told us a different rationale for Rhyd-Yr-Helyg homes being denied floodgates.