THE river level on the Afon Llwyd in Torfaen was higher at the weekend than during Storm Dennis that wreaked havoc in February 2020.
Torfaen Borough Council said homes in Pontnewynydd, Pontypool and Ponthir, in the south of the borough, were briefly impacted by flooding from the river due to heavy rain brought by Storm Bert.
Areas in New Inn, the North playing fields in Cwmbran and the boating lake in Llanyravon were also flooded.
Councillor Mandy Owen, the council’s cabinet member for the environment, said: “River gauges in the borough reached record levels, even higher than Storm Ciara and Storm Dennis which hit in successive weekends in 2020.”
Natural Resources Wales data shows the Llwyd, at Ponthir, peaked at 2.849 metres at 10.45am on Sunday, November 24 which was higher than the previous recent record of 2.733m during Storm Dennis, which struck on February 16, 2020.
At 3pm on Monday, November 25 the river gauge at Ponthir showed the water receding and stood at 1.388m.
Cllr Owen said the authority had prepared in advance of the storm and also placed Cwmbran Stadium and Ponthir Community Hall on standby in case they were needed if people were forced from their homes.
She said: “In advance of Storm Bert and throughout the storm our crews were out clearing leaves from drains and clearing gulleys, drainage ditches, culverts and gratings.
“During the storm the crews were dealing with river and surface water flooding across the borough.
“Response teams were fully staffed throughout the weekend and even the gritting crews joined the response once they finished gritting the roads on Friday night and it was all hands on deck to support our highways staff responding to local flooding with pumps and sandbags to the most critical incidents. Cwmbran Stadium and Ponthir community hall were also put on standby for anyone needing to take shelter or evacuate.”
Crews were back out on Monday to start clearing debris and inspecting key infrastructure such as roads and bridges and they will return to inspect culverts and drains.
Cllr Owen urged anyone living in a flood affected area to sign up for alerts from Natural Resources Wales to be warned of the flood risk.
All Torfaen council services were operating as normal on Monday.