Flash flooding hits homes for a second time

People who have been waiting to return to their homes following flooding nine months ago have been hit again.

The overnight downpour has thwarted plans, as some had been expecting to return to their properties in Bridgend within a few months.

An elderly woman was helped to safety after waist-deep water filled the ground-floor properties, said South Wales Fire and Rescue Service.

Liam Reilly, 30, said it could be many more months before he and partner Ceri Thomas, 29, could move back, after a nearby culvert flooded again with water entering their flat for a second time since last September.

"It does feel like our whole lives are now put on hold," he said.

"We are stuck with a house that we can't live in, that we have to pay for.

"And now we are going to be living with family for the foreseeable future."

He said 10 ground-floor flats at Ty Caer Castell needed an overhaul after last year's floods, with three having new kitchens recently fitted.

Ty Caer Castell ground-floor flats also flooded in 2012. A spokesperson for the fire service at the time said the flooding had been caused by water from a blocked culvert.

Mr Reilly returned to the property in the early hours of Saturday to try to survey the damage and saw firefighters helping an older person to safety.

"We weren't able to access the property - the water was too high for us to safely walk through," he said.

Although insured, Mr Reilly and Ms Thomas lost everything in the first flood, so the property was empty when it was hit by the most recent deluge.

"You've just got to keep going. I've got a business to run," said Mr Reilly, who runs a mobile coffee van which was hit during the first flood, along with neighbours' vehicles.

Kim Fjaelberg has lived in a flat at Ty Caer Castell since 2003 and, after last year's floods damaged her house, has stayed in temporary rented accommodation while it was repaired.

She said she had paid about £5,000 in accommodation costs since September and was due to move back in within the next few weeks.

Fighting back tears, she said: "This is the second time I've gone through this, it's devastating.

"I was hoping to come back home in a couple of weeks, it was nearly ready.

"I ordered furniture for my bedroom, now I have to cancel it."

The 66-year-old said she was "devastated" by the damage and had "nowhere to go".

"I was looking forward to coming back next week or the week after and now… I can't go back.

"Where do I go from here"Ian Price | BBC Weather Watchers Lightning over trees and roofs at Caernarfon, Gwynedd " class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/>Ian Price | BBC Weather Watchers