Bosses from Natural Resources Wales and the Met Office will face questions today about whether they were prepared for Storm Bert. The named storm hit Wales between November 22 and 25, 2024 and caused widespread disruption.
Concerns were raised that the weather warning never got to the highest level - of red, with one MP calling the Met Office "incompetent" and a council leader saying people should have been warned earlier. Rhondda Cynon Taf council leader Andrew Morgan told BBC Wales that Natural Resources Wales (NRW) had data on high river levels for more than an hour before residents were alerted.
Transport was disrupted, roads closed, and homes and business flooded, particularly in Rhondda Cynon Taf. Fewer homes were damaged than in the previous major flooding in 2020 but the storm still left devastation in its wake, from flooded homes, to deluged businesses. A landslide in Cwmtillery in Blaenau Gwent was caused by a coal tip, which impacted homes and terrified residents.
Thousands of people had to boil their water for days after the storm following flooding at the Tynywaun Water Treatment Works near Treherbert. People from Blaenrhondda, Blaencwm, Tynewydd, Treherbert, Treorchy, Cwm-parc, Ton Pentre, Gelli, parts of Pentre, parts of Tonypandy and parts of Ystrad have been asked to keep on boiling water before use for drinking, including for pets, preparing food, brushing teeth and washing dishes.
The Welsh affairs committee meets from 10am in the Commons today and look at whether the warnings given for Storm Bert were adequate to allow people to protect themselves from flooding, and how robust the weather warning system is in ensuring the public’s safety for future extreme weather events.
The witnesses will be:
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