21-02-2025
Children in flood-hit areas scared of rain, parents claim
Children in flood-hit areas are scared of rain, a charity worker has claimed.
Youngsters in Wales are said to be so frightened that they need their parents to close the curtains and turn up the volume on the TV during downpours.
Sharon Elward, organiser for the Pontypridd Foodbank, in South Wales, said repeated flooding in recent years had led to 'skyrocketing' mental health issues in their area.
'How can you physically keep living like that?' she said.
'Moving furniture and cabinets upstairs whenever there's a warning – it's just not realistic.'
She made the comments as the Senedd's Environment Committee met this week to hear from agencies involved in flood response.
It comes after the devastating impact of Storm Bert and Storm Darragh in November and December last year.
Ms Elward said seeing the streets of Pontypridd flooding again had 'a really huge impact on people'.
Her foodbank offers space for those worst affected by floods.
'They can't carry on living in this kind of situation,' she said, adding that people were watching river levels 'all the time'.
She said parents were being forced to 'shut their curtains and turn the TV up a bit louder' so their 'children's PTSD symptoms don't come back' when it rains.
'We've heard from people who have felt so bad they don't want to be here,' Ms Elward added.
Ms Elward said drop-in sessions organised by the foodbank in areas worst affected by the floods had been 'really well attended'.
She said: 'Their voices are not being heard – they are being thrown from pillar to post around all the different organisations but nobody is actually listening to what is happening to them.
'We know there has been a lot of money spent, but we are still here five years on, so was it spent wisely?'
Colin Fenn, 83, has seen his Pontypridd home flood twice in recent years.
'The worst thing of all is the trauma, the mental effect.
'Waiting, wondering if it's going to get flooded again.'
'Learn lessons from flooding'
In November, the Met Office came under fire for failing to give sufficient weather warnings in flood-hit parts of Wales before Storm Bert.
Cllr Andrew Morgan, the leader of Rhondda Cynon Taf county borough council, said at the time he was 'amazed' that only a yellow weather warning had been issued.
But a Welsh Government spokesman said it had maintained 'a record level of funding of £75 million for our flood programme this year which will protect more than 45,000 homes'.
The spokesman added it was 'so important that we continue to learn lessons from flooding' and that after Storm Bert 'we immediately organised a meeting of first responders, risk management authorities and other agencies'.
'We are also looking at whether we can use National Flood Forum services more widely.'
A Met Office spokesman said they 'welcome the opportunity to discuss the impact of recent storms at the Senedd Environment Committee's session'.
'We take our responsibility to warn for severe weather in the UK very seriously and will always evolve and work even more closely with our partners to ensure we all deliver the best information to keep people safe.
'Our thoughts are with those who were affected by the impacts caused by the recent winter storms.'
