Ceredigion Floods - The Aftermath
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Welsh Local Government Minister Carl Sargeant visited some of the areas of North Ceredigion most badly affected by flooding this afternoon and spoke to residents. The tour, with Ceredigion Council Leader Ellen ap Gwynn, took in Parc yr Onnen in Llanbadarn, Aberystwyth Holiday Village and Talybont.
The village square in Talybont, a place where the rivers Ceulan and Leri meet, is the scene of the worst residential devastation in the county. The village was lucky to escape without loss of life when two walls collapsed under the force of water.
The lower photo shows a workman, secured to the bank with a hook, working in the River Ceulan to reconnect a water pipe next to a collapsed wall. The top photo shows a typical scene in the village (and also at Parc yr Onnen in Llanbadarn) of ruined belongings piled up on the pavement.
It may be a cliche, but the villagers I spoke to showed tremendous cheerfulness and community spirit in the face of everything and were full of praise for the local emergency services who had helped them. The Llew Gwyn pub had pitched in by providing free food and were generally acting as a community centre.
In Aberystwyth, Penglais School had been used as a rest centre yesterday and dealt with 130 people. 70 Council workers worked through the weekend to help stricken residents and to keep the County's infrastructure going. At the height of the flood the River Rheidol was flowing at a rate of 280 tons per second.
Meanwhile, in a developing story, 600 people were this afternoon evacuated from the village of Pennal, a few miles west of Machynlleth, after cracks appeared in a reservoir dam. The dam is along the river Pennal which feeds into the Dyfi.
Update:
Ystwyth Medical Surgery will be operating from the old Countryside Council for Wales offices near Penrhyncoch whilst their own premises are being cleaned up. They can still be phoned on their usual number.
Borth Animalarium is having a clean-up starting tomorrow morning (Monday) at 8.30am.
Further update 11/6/12
* Welsh Government Environment Minister John Griffiths visited Talybont and Dolybont today to see the flood damage.
* B&Q, Halfords, Carpetright and Currys at Parc y Llyn Retail Park are all closed until further notice due to flood damage.
* Ceredigion Council Leader Ellen ap Gwynn has launched an appeal fund to help flood victims. Details here.
* Nat West Bank in Owain Glyndwr Square, Aberystwyth is also running an appeal. To contribute to this you can drop in or contact Mel Blaney on 01970 - 627337.
* Donations of cleaning and re-decorating materials (the most needed items by flood victims at the moment) are also being accepted by Alexanders Estate Agents in Terrace Road. They will also be distributing the money from the Nat West appeal fund. The contact person is Lauren Sarreus-Webb on 01970 - 636010.
* A jumble sale is being held to raise money on Saturday at the Bandstand on Aberystwyth Prom. Donations for this will be accepted there from 9am. The jumble sale starts at 11am.
* The Aberystwyth Flood Victims Facebook page for updates on these initiatives is here
It may be a cliche, but the villagers I spoke to showed tremendous cheerfulness and community spirit in the face of everything and were full of praise for the local emergency services who had helped them. The Llew Gwyn pub had pitched in by providing free food and were generally acting as a community centre.
In Aberystwyth, Penglais School had been used as a rest centre yesterday and dealt with 130 people. 70 Council workers worked through the weekend to help stricken residents and to keep the County's infrastructure going. At the height of the flood the River Rheidol was flowing at a rate of 280 tons per second.
Meanwhile, in a developing story, 600 people were this afternoon evacuated from the village of Pennal, a few miles west of Machynlleth, after cracks appeared in a reservoir dam. The dam is along the river Pennal which feeds into the Dyfi.
Update:
Ystwyth Medical Surgery will be operating from the old Countryside Council for Wales offices near Penrhyncoch whilst their own premises are being cleaned up. They can still be phoned on their usual number.
Borth Animalarium is having a clean-up starting tomorrow morning (Monday) at 8.30am.
Further update 11/6/12
* Welsh Government Environment Minister John Griffiths visited Talybont and Dolybont today to see the flood damage.
* B&Q, Halfords, Carpetright and Currys at Parc y Llyn Retail Park are all closed until further notice due to flood damage.
* Ceredigion Council Leader Ellen ap Gwynn has launched an appeal fund to help flood victims. Details here.
* Nat West Bank in Owain Glyndwr Square, Aberystwyth is also running an appeal. To contribute to this you can drop in or contact Mel Blaney on 01970 - 627337.
* Donations of cleaning and re-decorating materials (the most needed items by flood victims at the moment) are also being accepted by Alexanders Estate Agents in Terrace Road. They will also be distributing the money from the Nat West appeal fund. The contact person is Lauren Sarreus-Webb on 01970 - 636010.
* A jumble sale is being held to raise money on Saturday at the Bandstand on Aberystwyth Prom. Donations for this will be accepted there from 9am. The jumble sale starts at 11am.
* The Aberystwyth Flood Victims Facebook page for updates on these initiatives is here
