THE CHIEF Fire Officer of South Wales Fire and Rescue Service (SWFRS) has praised the exceptional efforts of its staff following major flooding caused by Storm Bert throughout the weekend of 23-24 November. The severe weather brought widespread devastation across the region, prompting hundreds of emergency calls to the Service’s control room.
Many flood rescues took place in Treherbert, Aberdare, Pontypridd, Cwm, across Monmouthshire, and other areas affected by the floods. In Rhondda Cynon Taff (RCT), crews responded to 110 flood incidents, using boats to rescue residents whose homes had been flooded. Whilst in Cwmtillery, a major landslip displaced thousands of tons of mountain debris. Several residents were evacuated, and a specialist engineer was called in to assess the damage.
Assistant Chief Fire Officer (ACFO) Christian Hadfield, who served as Gold Commander for the Sunday flooding, explained: “We declared a major incident at 9am on Sunday, which remained in effect until 9pm that evening when we resumed business as usual.
“The scale of the response was immense, requiring the support of 21 neighbouring fire and rescue services, as well as National Resilience, the Coastguard, Severn Area Rescue Association (SARA), and Mountain Rescue.
“Our control room staff worked tirelessly, handling an overwhelming number of calls, throughout the weekend.
“Since Storm Dennis hit south Wales in 2020, we have changed the way we respond to flooding, with a focus on training for water rescue and response operations. The investment we have made in this aspect of the Service over the last four years seems to have paid off.”
Control Room Operator and On-Call Firefighter for Treorchy, Sabrina Butler, demonstrated incredible dedication by continuing to work through the crisis, despite her own home having been flooded. Sabrina said: “The whole ground floor of my house was flooded. My fridge was floating around the kitchen, but I left my partner and my grandfather at home to deal with the clean-up operation whilst I went to work and stayed in the control room to assist. The calls kept coming, and I knew I had to be there.”
Head Of Fire Control, Natalie Pearce, commented: “We weren’t expecting Sabrina to come to work, knowing that her house had been flooded. She couldn’t get to the fridge to get her lunch or the bathroom to prepare for her shift, but despite that, she made it in to work and worked continuously throughout the whole shift whilst her crew mates from Treorchy responded to assist all the properties in the community with clean-up operations, throughout the day.
“The whole of the Control team pulled together over the weekend. Five people from the night shift stayed on into the next shift and two stayed on until the following night shift, working over twenty-four hours. Without that selfless dedication to duty, we wouldn’t have been able to manage the activity as effectively.
“Our Control Operators stood by their team members during a period of high call demand to make sure we could help the people of our communities at a time of devastation which is both mentally and physically debilitating. Our thoughts are with everyone affected by Storm Bert”
SWFRS received a staggering number of calls throughout the weekend. Between 5:00am and 8:00am on Sunday, 203 calls were received, with the number increasing as the morning progressed. By 9:00am, a further108 calls were logged, which peaked with 120 calls awaiting action at one point during the day. However, the call queue was brought down to zero by the end of the day.
The collaboration between multiple services ensured a rapid and efficient response to the crisis. The swift transfer of calls to 21 other fire control centres around the UK as far afield as Aberdeen and the establishment of effective multi-agency coordination were key to managing the emergency. SWFRS worked alongside the Welsh Government, police, ambulance services, SARA local authorities, mountain rescue, Highways Agency and many others to ensure that help was delivered where it was needed most.
Chief Fire Officer, Fin Monahan, supported the response of staff in the Control Room on Sunday before moving to Pontypridd to observe water flows, flood damage, and the ongoing multiagency response. The Chief then delivered a joint press conference with the local authority.
Reflecting on the weekend’s events, he commented: “I was extremely impressed with how calmly the control room staff worked, managing the extremely high call volume and coordinating emergency services on the ground.
“I am also extremely proud of the rapid and professional response from all of our firefighters out on the ground. They worked unwaveringly through the day and night to save lives, protect vulnerable people and reduce damage wherever they could. However, the damage caused by Storm Bert was extensive and has touched many in our communities.
“Our hearts go out to all those affected by this flooding and as I write, we continue to support the communities we serve that are still affected by the flooding.
It’s clear that lessons learned from past events, including the 2020 floods, helped us respond decisively. Our control room staff ensured effective communication throughout the crisis, with ongoing updates to local authorities, press, and the public.”
Chief Fire Officer Monahan noted the increasing likelihood of similar flooding events in the future, and emphasised the need for continued improvement and learning from such incidents.
He added: “We will undoubtedly face more challenges as climate change brings more extreme weather events. We are committed to learning from this experience to enhance our response in the future. We will continue to support affected communities, with a strong commitment to improving resilience for future incidents.”
South Wales Fire and Rescue Service aims to make south Wales safer, by reducing risk. We work to protect and serve across the 10 local authorities that make up our diverse area, working in partnership with our colleagues in other frontline services.
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