Surviving the flood

Talybont Community Flood Group‘Talybont Floodees’

Chair personMick Fothergill

1. The Event - The Devastation2. Forming the Group - Dealing with Insurance

and builders3. Developing a community flood Plan4. Defining our problem - Responsibilities5. The solution6. Where we are now

Surviving the flood

Surviving the flood

Surviving the flood

For 40 years we have lived in harmony with the river and enjoyed all its moods

Surviving the flood

The river was part of our lives – an excitement and an inspiration

The Event

The Event An intense low pressure system stalled over the catchment areas of the Rivers Leri and Ceulan.

Over 190mm of rain fell in 36 hours on already saturated land.The resultant flooding was widespread and severe.

27 properties in Talybont were flooded and the A487 through the village was closed for a number of hours.

Isohyet Diagram for 8th / 9th 2012 Flood Event

The Event

The Event

The River Gauge at Dolybont was overwhelmed

The Event

The Event

The EventWe were evacuated to the local pub – but that too was flooded

Evacuated a second time to the Village Hall

The Devastation

The Devastation

The Devastation

The Devastation

The Devastation

The Devastation

The Devastation

The Devastation

The Devastation

The Clean up

The Clean up

The Clean up

The Group

The Group

• Everyone was invited • Centred around the pubs – Very Important• Met every week (we still do)• Provided support and advice – a real safety valve• Helped reduce stress – The psychological impact was

immense• We helped each other

• Invited talks and lectures

• The Group now has a constitution and a formal committee

• Make sure you are not under insured – DO IT NOW (Principal of Average)• Keep contact information to hand • Inform your Insurance company immediately – 24 Hour hot lines don’t work

so have telephone numbers and email addresses • Ask for advice but remember that insurance companies are not necessarily

acting with your best interest at heart

• Get independent advice – The Scottish Flood Forum in the guise of Paul Hendy was of great help.

• They will appoint a loss adjuster. Loss adjusters are impartial but paid for by the insurance company. You do not have to accept this and you can insist on appointing one of your own. If a number of properties are affected its a good idea to join together with a single loss adjuster.

Insurance

• The Loss adjustor will appoint a surveyor who will produce a ‘Scope of Works’ . This document should be a draft document and you should study this carefully before agreeing to the final version.

• This will then be issued as a Tender document and sent to a range of builders to tender for the contract.

• Once builders have been appointed make sure you open a dialogue with the company and be around as much as you can to keep an eye on the progress – make a nuisance of yourself

IT WILL BE SLOW

Insurance

• It will take 5-6 months for your house to dry out – Insist on a drying certificate

• You can insist on using local businesses and products • Local businesses and contractors don't like working for Insurance

companies as they are very slow at paying• Don’t ask your builder to undertake extra work without a written quote

– They are likely to be very expensive• At the completion of the restoration the builders should provide you

with a pack of documents

INSURANCE COMPANIES ARE HONOURABLE AND WILL PAY UPEVENTUALLY

Insurance

Annual Insurance0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

Pre floodPost Flood

Insurance

61%

LVC Millenium0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

Pre floodPost Flood

Insurance

7% 226%

Developing a Community Flood Plan

• We were unprepared• Warning systems were generic for North Ceredigion and not

specific to our catchment

Developed a Community Flood Plan and organised a test day

• Ceredigion County Council• Natural Resources Wales • Dyfed Powys Police • Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service

Our Problem

The Leri/Ceulan catchment is a relatively small steep sided, funnel shaped catchment which reacts very quickly to rainfall.

It ranges from over 1300ft to sea level

Hydrographs for the rivers Leri, Ystwyth, Clarach and Rheidol.

The Leri exhibits a highly peaked graph which provides little opportunity for an adequate warning period.

Our Problem

Our Problem

ResponsibilitiesSurface water – Dwr Cymru

Responsibilities

The Solution - Information

Two river gauges Leri and CeulanTalybont

Two remote rain gauges at top of catchment

Farson digital webcams Talybont

The Solution - KnowledgePrimary defence – Flood arc system or Flood Gate

The Solution - KnowledgeSecondary defence – Seal drains

The Solution - Knowledge

The Solution - KnowledgeExpression of interest to the ‘Nature Fund’

Developing and testing a catchment-based approach for flood alleviation in upland Wales using ecosystem services

Aberystwyth University keen to use our catchment as a study area

Cobweb will play a central role in allowing us to collect information within the catchment and bring issues to the notice of the authorities

Allow the community to participate in and be pro-active in its own monitoring of the catchment

We will ‘own’ the information that will allow us to fight the flood risk.

The Solution - Knowledge

•Better specific warning systems •Community and personal flood plans •Better defences•More autonomous (Lottery funding for Sand Bags)•Better communication within the village •Defibrillators sited in the village •In discussion about the future of the bridge•Started a discussion with local farmers about a replanting scheme

•The council has carried out a feasibility study for a Talybont flood scheme to be presented to us on the 3rd Dec

in the pub

Where we are now

•Ceredigion Council •Natural Resources Wales•Aberystwyth University•The Scottish Flood Forum specifically Paul Hendy•Local Councillor, Leader of the Council, Regional AM•Emergency Services

•All of Talybont

But most of all

Thank You

The Talybont Flood Group