Storm Bert was one of the worst we’ve seen in Wales for years. Months worth of rain fell in a matter of hours and has meant thousands of homes and businesses around the country have been affected. Senedd members are asking what the government will be doing to help, and why warnings weren’t issued in time.
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00:00There is a genuine question that's coming loud and clear from those communities that
00:06if there was a greater warning, then there could have been more preventative measures
00:10put in place.
00:11I fully accept the force of the water in many areas was enormous, but there is a genuine
00:18point around a yellow alert being issued when we were forecast by the meteorologists and
00:26others that a month's rain was going to fall in a 24, 36-hour period.
00:32Clearly there will be lessons to learn, as we learned them last time, and we will need
00:37to work with Natural Resources Wales in terms of seeing if there could have been better
00:44warning.
00:45And I've called a meeting next week with local authorities and NRW to assess the situation.
00:52The Welsh Government have said that they invest hundreds of millions of pounds into
00:56flood defences and preparedness schemes, and say the funds are vital to keeping communities
01:00safe.
01:01They also say that they will directly fund people who have been affected by the recent
01:04flooding and encourage people to contact the relevant agencies.
01:08Welsh Government will provide funding to eligible local authorities to provide immediate financial
01:14support to those whose homes have been flooded.
01:17We recognise that there are many immediate practical needs for people in such awful circumstances,
01:24so we will be funding councils to provide grants of £500 and £1,000 to affected households.
01:32And to return to those customers in RCT impacted by Dŵr Cymru's boil notice, I welcome the
01:37confirmation by Dŵr Cymru that they will be offering £150 to all customers affected.
01:43In saying all of this, Dirprwy Lywydd, I recognise that this is going to be of little
01:47comfort to people whose homes and businesses were impacted over this weekend, but this
01:52impact is exactly why this investment continues to be so important.