Residents still not back home six months after floods

Residents hit by severe flooding six months ago are still not able to return to their homes and say they will not be able to for months.

Flash floods hit several areas of south Wales in September last year, with one person rescued after 10 properties were flooded at Ty Caer Castell, Bridgend.

People living on the ground floor of the block of flats say they "lost everything".

Bridgend council said a "local watercourse became overwhelmed by the sheer amount of rain that fell" and it had applied for a Welsh government grant to make urgent improvements.

Liam Reilly, 29, moved into the flats four years ago with his girlfriend and said the water was waist deep within 15 minutes of the flood starting.

"We've been out of our properties for seven months now and we're looking like we won't be back in our for another 20 to 25 weeks," he said.

"So we're looking at being out of our homes for a full year."

He added the waterway and culvert which caused the flooding "is in the jurisdiction of the council and Network Rail" but he felt the council was not "taking responsibility".

"The property management company say they're waiting for insurers or loss adjusters, and that's why it's taking so long, while we are also still paying service charges, so that's thousands of pounds paid out for a property we can't even live in," he said.

"The whole thing has been a shambles."

Liam was also in the first year of a new business venture when the floods hit.

"I'd converted my van with my grandad, into a mobile coffee shop, and the van which was also my livelihood was nearly written off and left badly damaged," he said.

"That was out of action for three months, I feared that was going to be the end of the business but luckily in recent months I've started a little coffee shop in Penarth."

He added 15 of his neighbours' vehicles had been written off by the floods.

Ty Caer Castell ground floor flats also flooded in 2012, after which residents say Network Rail accepted responsibility for a blocked culvert but added residents did not receive any compensation and many residents were left unable to insure their contents.

Ed Clarke owns a flat in Ty Caer Castell, which he bought new in 2006, and it has now flooded twice.

His 35-year-old son was living in the flat when the flash floods hit, with at least 3ft (1m) of water in the property.

"We were trying to get all his possessions out and it did traumatise my son and he's been back living at home with us since the flooding," said Mr Clarke.

"But everything was ruined."

Residents say while the flood was a result of rainfall, it was not a "natural disaster" and claim "it was a failure of infrastructure, planning, and maintenance".

Mr Clarke added: "The apartment was built on a flood plain and even more houses have been built around and there's a very small culvert for drainage and the water builds up very quickly when it rains.

"The culvert that runs under the railway line is woefully inadequate, we would like to see another culvert run alongside the existing culvert and that would solve the problem.

"Nothing has been fixed, so it's not as if the property will flood again, but when it'll flood again."

A Bridgend council spokesman said: "Unfortunately, this was one of the locations affected by the extremely heavy rainfall which resulted in widespread flash flooding across the south Wales area on the evening of 6 September 2024.

"Our investigations suggest that the primary cause of the flooding was because the local watercourse became overwhelmed by the sheer amount of rain that fell that evening.

"With up to 50mm of rainfall recorded within a space of four hours, this was one of the most intense levels that we have encountered in recent years, and it resulted in a hydraulic overload of the system."

He added the council had applied for Welsh government grant funding "to make urgent improvements to the local watercourse in order to mitigate the risk of any future flooding".

A Network Rail spokesperson added it was "aware of the ongoing situation" and understood "the frustrations of residents in that area".

"Network Rail is responsible for the culvert and the inlet and outlet structures, within the railway boundary only. However, concerns with the water flow further upstream do not sit within our ownership and so we cannot get involved with issues that do not fall under Network Rail jurisdiction," they said.

They said after ongoing maintenance and "yearly visual inspections of the culvert" they had "not experienced any concerns around its capabilities".

Lambert Smith Hampton Residential Limited are the managing agents for complex.

A spokesperson for the company said: "While we understand how stressful and frustrating this is for residents, and we are happy to assist where we can, we can only assist where these matters fall under our control.

"The flooding that has affected the site was caused by issues on Bridgend council's land and as such our Client, and Lambert Smith Hampton Residential Limited (LSHR) have no control or remit under how this flooding risk is dealt with by the Council.

"Additionally, once the flooding occurred, and the Client's Buildings Insurer became involved, control over how quickly residents were able to re-access their properties fell outside of LSHR's power to oversee.

"The works needed to bring the properties back to a habitable standard, is being overseen by the Insurance Company and their Loss Adjuster, LSHR are not involved in, or responsible for, managing this project and as such any complaints about delays in these matters should be addressed by residents to the Insurer."