South Wales Fire and Rescue Service Chief Fire Officer commends staff for ‘superb’ response to storm flooding

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 23rd-24th 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.”