CARMARTHENSHIRE County Council staff worked throughout the weekend alongside emergency services and partner agencies to respond to localised flooding due to heavy rain and high tides.
Crews were on standby in response to weather warnings and flood alerts issued before the weekend.
There were numerous incidents of highway flooding across the network along with some fallen trees.
A small landslide occurred on private land at Cynwyl Elfed, and the River Towy rose above the Carmarthen Quayside walls at high tides on Sunday evening and Monday morning.
Highways crews battled conditions to erect warning signs, disperse water where possible, distribute sandbags to properties deemed at high risk and to arrange standby pumps in the Johnstown area of Carmarthen downstream of the River Towy.
A number of road closures were put in place, including the old A48 road between Pont Abraham and Fforest, Gwendraeth Road Tumble, and the A40 trunk road at Manordeilo, but were re-opened by Monday morning.
The A484 at Cynwyl Elfed was re-opened Sunday evening following an emergency response to re-divert water following a landslide, which caused two properties in the area to be evacuated in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Cllr Hazel Evans, Executive Board Member for Environment, said: “We had teams on standby to respond to the changing weather conditions, which worsened on Saturday evening resulting in surface water, river and coastal flooding in many areas. Crews worked throughout the weekend and thankfully only a small number of properties were affected.
“We continue to work closely with colleagues at Natural Resources Wales and the Met Office to monitor and respond to conditions, with a number of weather warnings still in force. Whilst we do not envisage the scale of flooding experienced last year, we are mindful that homeowners in some areas will be anxious. We would like to provide assurance that we are well prepared to respond and take any action necessary.”
Carmarthen escaped the worst of the flooding, as heavy rain blew in from the west later than expected, missing the high tide on the Towy.
Further west, the fury of the storm-lashed mountainous seas against the seafront at Pendine, with sea spray hammering into buildings fronting on to the beach.
In the south of the county, heavy rain fell on already saturated land.
Near Trimsaran, horses were stranded on a sliver of land in a marsh as the water rose around them. With the water waist-deep and rising rapidly. Herald reader Denise Phillips contacted us regarding the horses’ plight and said that the horses’ owner was not responding to calls to rescue the horses.
She told us that the RSPCA had not responded to pleas for help.
Thanks to a concerted effort by The Real Whispering Horse Sanctuary, the fourteen horses were moved to safety on higher ground as floodwaters slowly subsided.
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