The United Kingdom woke up this Monday with hundreds of alerts for heavy rain and flooding, after a weekend in which the storm Bert It has left in its wake cut roads and train lines, electrical blackouts, flooded towns and a lack of drinking water. At least five people have died from accidents directly related to the storm.
Bert It has especially affected the area of Wales and the west of England. What began as a snow blizzard, with extremely low temperatures, soon turned into torrential rains that caused overflows and flooding. During Saturday, in a single day, practically the same amount of water fell that usually falls on average during a month.
South Wales suffered the worst damage over the weekend. An inventory of the accumulated material damage has yet to be done, but area residents estimate that it will be worse than that caused by the storm. Dennisin 2020. At least 300 homes have been completely flooded.
“This is the second time that many of these people have suffered the consequences of a storm,” said Eluned Morgan, the first minister of Wales. “Since the disaster of Dennis We have been able to make considerable investments, which have not helped protect many more properties on this occasion. But the impact, just before Christmas, continues to be devastating for many citizens,” he lamented.
I want to thank our emergency services who are working so hard to help people in need. My thoughts are with all those impacted by this flooding, and especially with the family of the man who lost his life in Trefriw.
On my way back from Pembrokeshire today I visited Carmarthen… pic.twitter.com/KKmFcVae3O
— Eluned Morgan (@Eluned_Morgan) November 24, 2024
Although many inhabitants of these areas are accustomed to enduring inclement weather, the alleged lack of foresight or coordination of the authorities has sparked controversy. The Town Council of Pontypridd, a Welsh town with just over 30,000 inhabitants, has accused the United Kingdom Meteorological Office of publishing only a yellow alert for possible rain, when the municipal authorities, they say, were already preparing for an amber alert, higher risk.
“During the storm DennisWe received an amber alert much earlier, and another red one in the hours before. I think we need to review what happened and the current procedure as soon as possible,” demanded Andrew Morgan, one of the politicians responsible for the county of Rhondda Cynon Taff, of which Pontypridd is a part.
The public company Natural Resources Waleshas announced the opening of an investigation to check whether the alert system worked properly.
The Welsh Water Company (Dwr Cymru, in its original name) has issued an alert affecting 10 counties in the region in which it asks households to boil the water they are going to use for human consumption, while at the same time distributed bottled mineral water.
The trains that connect London with Gatwick and Stanstead airports still have serious problems this Monday, and energy companies continue working to return normality to more than 350,000 homes that lost electricity throughout Saturday and Sunday.
