Fire crews attend nearly 100 flooding related incidents

FIRE crews in Mid and West Wales have attended nearly 100 calls relating to flooding in the last 24 hours.

From 8am yesterday (Wednesday, January 20) to 8am today, Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service (MAWWFRS) said they have received a total of 233 calls.

Of the 233 calls, joint fire control received 140 flood-related calls and attended 98 incidents. There were 71 calls of external flooding, 57 calls of internal flooding and 12 calls where the flooding posed a risk to life.

Welshpool was among the most lively stations in the region, as firefighters responded to seven calls. Also among the busiest station areas during this period were Abercrave, with 11 incidents, Llandeilo (8), Ammanford (8) and Carmarthen (7).

Llandrindod Fire Station, meanwhile, tweeted that their officers had been called out to 10 flooding incidents in Powys.

They tweeted: “A busy night for the crew at Stn13 last night. 13P1, 13M2 & 13T1 with the wading team mobilised to 10 flooding calls, including assisting two persons from a van in Builth Wells. Both safe and well.”

MAWWFRS activity at these incidents included deploying swift water rescue teams to rescue a total of 13 people from vehicles in floodwater, winching vehicles from water and pumping water from properties. This was in addition to responding to road traffic collisions and property fires in the service area.

During this period, crews from Llanelli and Tumble also attended two property fires in Bryncoch and Felinfoel, both near Llanelli.

Deputy chief fire officer Roger Thomas said: “Over the past 24 hours our crews have been extremely busy, having attended 98 flood-related incidents in harsh and treacherous conditions.

“This is in addition to attending house fires, road traffic collisions and mitigating the damage to people’s properties from the effects of Storm Christoph. This was all done while operating within the current Covid-19 restrictions.

“While our incident activity has returned to normal, for now, there are weather warnings still in place and colder conditions are expected to continue through the next few days.

“I would urge all drivers to carefully consider if their journey is an essential one to take. If you must drive, please, do not drive through floodwater as it only takes one foot, or 30cm, of moving water to float your car and as little as an eggcup-full of water, entering your engine, is enough to cause significant mechanical damage.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank our operational crews and staff at the joint fire control for their outstanding and tireless work in what has been a very busy and challenging 24 hours.”

County Times | Llandrindod Wells & Rhayader