1,000 flood emergency calls in 24 hours

A council chief executive revealed emergency flood lines took more than 1,000 calls in 24 hours over the weekend.
Torrential downpours, high tides and storm-force winds lashed large swathes of Conwy county and staff were deployed in all affected areas said the authority’s Iwan Davies.
It emerged more than 150 homes were flooded as Storm Ciara landed. Sixty homes in Llanrwst and around 40 in Llanfair Talhaiarn were affected, as well as properties in Abergele, Trefriw, Old Colwyn, Deganwy and other spots around the county.
“I just want to thank the dedicated staff,” said Mr Davies. “They showed themselves in the best of lights when the chips were down.”
The figures came to light amid a fierce rebuttal, by council leader cllr Sam Rowlands, to media reports about the council’s handling of the emergency.
Residents and at least one local councillor accused Conwy council of failing to maintain culverts designed to avert flood waters from the centre of Llanrwst.
Cllr Rowlands told the authority’s cabinet meeting in Conwy: “A number of announcements have been made over the last couple of days but just to reiterate this council’s support for the communities that have been affected and the depth of feeling for the impact it’s had on houselholds and businesses as well.
“Clearly there’s all sorts of different reports published both in the press and online. Some of that hasn’t been very helpful in all honesty in terms of people trying to point fingers so quickly after such a severe event.
“I’m particularly frustrated that some elected members have decided to share information that isn’t ncessarily true, without finding factually correct information first. One of those items is that we did not clear some culverts in Llanrwst.
“To be very straight again, we did clear the culverts in question and the trash gates that catch debris were also cleared on the Friday and Saturday that the storm hit.
“It is worth noting this was a severe storm. My officers are telling me this was the worst storm they have ever seen.”
Cllr Greg Robbins, cabinet member for environment, said staff cleared the culverts on Friday and Saturday – and he had photographic evidence.
He said “50 gratings” were cleared over the weekend and the first call regarding Llanrwst was received by staff at 7.54am.
Cllr Rowlands praised the work of council staff, both during the storm and those continuing to assist residents in the aftermath.
He added: “As with any flooding incident we will, once we’ve got through the clear-up and support for those communities, undertake a review to understand  the circumstances and to understand what happened specifically in those areas.”

By Jez Hemming – Local Democracy Reporter