'I won't return to flooded home'

By Kevin Leonard
BBC News website

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Dee-Ann Palmer could not get insurance on her flooded home

A mother whose home was badly damaged by flooding after a manhole "exploded" in a south Wales village three months ago has vowed never to move back.

Four houses at Ynysboeth, Cynon Valley, were deluged in September by up to 1.2m (4ft) of water after heavy rain.

Dee-Ann Palmer, 28, who was moved to a different house nearby, said she would not return due to the risk of flooding.

Rhondda Cynon Taf council said inquiries were continuing into the cause and it is using CCTV in culverts.

Ms Palmer and her three children moved into a different house at Nant-y-Fedw after their home was severely damaged in the 5 September flood.

She said RCT Homes, which owns and manages RCT council's former housing stock, had offered her the chance to return to her old home but the risk of flooding means she feels she could never return.

"There are workers in there gutting the entire downstairs and doing it out," she said.

You're up in the nights and if you have a weekend of rain, you dare not go to sleep Christine Jenkins

"Who wants to live somewhere where they know they could get flooded 24-7?

"They told me they could do the house out and put me back in but I said I don't want to go back there. If you pay me billions I won't go back in that house, I've said I'm happy where I am."

Ms Palmer was looking after her nephew on the day of the flooding when she heard a "gushing" sound.

"I thought it was my washing machine. I went to look and I could see the bin floating outside," she said.

"I opened the door and it came flooding in. My nephew screamed and I picked him up and ran to my friend's.

"My old house is in a little dip and all the water was coming down the road and it was shooting up the path like a fountain."

Ms Palmer said she did not have insurance at the time because premiums were so high due to previous flooding.

"I lost everything and had to do everything from scratch. I had to buy new cups, plates, three-piece suite, cooker, washing machine, telly," she said.

"I was doing a lot of washing at the time and had stuff drying so lost clothing.

Dee-Ann Palmer said the flooding had been a "living nightmare"

"It's been a living nightmare. I have my bad days and I'm sitting there crying and the kids say it's not my fault."

Talking about the flooding still upsets her but she is looking forward to a much better 2009 at her new home.

"I know I'm still in a flooding area but I've got insurance for this property now and it's a lot better for the kids, it's safer for them," she said.

"I'm really looking forward now to seeing Christmas gone and next year come. I can't wait."

Another family affected by the flooding, Christine and Fred Jenkins, moved back into their home just six days before Christmas.

Workmen were still fitting doors and windows while Mrs Jenkins was moving back in, but she said she was determined to return for Christmas.

Mrs Jenkins, 73, said: "I needed to be back in for Christmas and I couldn't wait to get back in.

"I'll be sleeping here tonight. If I have got to sleep on the floor, I'll be here tonight."

CCTV cameras

The couple had been renting a house in Abercynon since the flooding but Mrs Jenkins said it was not home, just "a roof over our heads".

She said everything on the ground floor of her house had been "ruined" by flood water.

"It was horrendous. The water just kept coming through the door and it was coming through everywhere, you couldn't stop it," she said.

She said she hoped the council would be able to sort out the problem once and for all.

"This was the first time I've been flooded but for next door, it's time and time again," she said.

"You're up in the nights and if you have a weekend of rain, you dare not go to sleep."

RCT council is planning to use CCTV to film inside culverts as part of an investigation to try to stop homes being flooded again.