It’s “raining old ladies and sticks” is the Welsh equivalent of cats and dogs, and boy did those old ladies mean business when Storm Bert poured out nearly a month’s worth of rain on the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) over Saturday night. By Sunday, the deluge was surging into the River Taff and through the Welsh valleys, forcing the Taff to burst its banks, bringing misery to communities along its length – including mine in Taff’s Well.
Neighbours, who had been devastated by Storm Dennis in February 2020, were shocked to find that everything they had done to rebuild was undone. Replastered front rooms were submerged yet again. New cars were bobbing once more in the streets.
The people of the valleys are strong, and they know how to pull together and work through tough times. But even the most resilient communities can be ground down by back-to-back disasters. The psychological strain is immense. How many times can you rebuild, knowing that in a rapidly heating world such floods are becoming more frequent and even more severe?
And they surely must expect more such inundations. For, despite the intensification of rainfall in the UK over the past 60 years, and decades of warnings from climate scientists that unrestrained fossil fuel emissions would bring exactly these sorts of torrential downpours to the UK, the government has done remarkably little to prepare and provide communities with the resources they need to adapt.
In their latest progress report on climate adaptation, the Climate Change Committee concluded starkly that the UK is “not adequately prepared” for our new and more dangerous climate, and that government plans “fall far short” of what is required. The committee’s chair, Lady Brown, went so far as to say that the “UK’s current approach to adaptation is not working.” The decision of successive governments to not give these matters the priority they deserve means they have abandoned communities like mine to bear the brunt of the climate crisis.
A particularly terrifying threat for communities in the Welsh valleys is the risk of extreme rainfall destabilising old coal spoil heaps and causing them to slip, which scientists have repeatedly highlighted in their briefings. Such a slip took place in Cwmtillery this weekend; homes had to be evacuated, though thankfully no one was hurt. But as we near the 60th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster, we clearly cannot let politicians ignore these warnings any longer. The rapidly worsening climate means it is only a matter of time before a flood brings down a mountainside.
What is most frustrating is that there are steps that could be taken to reduce the risk. First, we need to reduce fossil fuel emissions as fast as possible, rather than expand oil and gas drilling in the North Sea. Next, we must prioritise adaptation and better protection: hard defences such as building flood walls and upgrading sewers and drains, but also soft defences such as restoring wetlands and planting trees across the tops of the hills to hold back water for longer in the uplands of the catchment.
We also need improved storm warning systems and alerts, and trained emergency response teams ready to act when needed, but this all takes investment and requires the government to properly plan and coordinate our country’s response. Instead, the Environment Agency’s budget has been slashed and new homes are still allowed to be built on flood plains.
We desperately need to hold our political representatives to account when it comes to ensuring the country’s climate policies are up to the task of protecting us.
Perhaps we should look to Valencia, where, following their recent disastrous floods, the citizens have decided they’ve had enough of government failure and are calling for political resignations and plans for litigation.
But the regrettable truth is that we cannot trust governments to act sufficiently on scientific warnings alone. The terribly weak outcome at Cop29 in Azerbaijan, and the failures to implement our own national strategies, make that plain.
We’re going to have to force our representatives to act on our behalf. We’re also going to have to look after each other as best we can through community building and mutual care. Be it the heroic efforts of Valencians to clean their streets of debris, or neighbours in Rhondda, Pontypridd and Taff’s Well organising rest shelters and warm meals for the affected, it’s by coming out in solidarity that we can best protect ourselves. The first step is to grow connections in our communities. Find an active group and get involved.
