People are coming together to help homeowners and businesses affected by unprecedented flooding in Monmouth, a local MP says.
“This community is incredibly resilient and kind,” Catherine Fuchs said, as the city's recreation center opened to people evacuated from their homes.
The church also acts as drop off point donations included clothing, and local businesses provided hot meals.
A major incident This was reported in the city by the South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, whose crews helped dozens of people to safety.
Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has released four severe flood warnings in Monmouth amid concerns of a “significant risk to life” as the Monnow River reached record levels, surpassing levels recorded during Storm Dennis in 2020 and Storm Burt in 2024.
The Welsh Government praised the response to the emergency and said support was available to affected people from local authorities through Emergency Financial Assistance Scheme.
The Monmouthshire MP said it was a “really worrying time for residents and businesses” and while a “big clean-up” was underway, the current flood defense system needed to be reviewed.
“The flood defenses did withstand a similar situation in 2020, but this flood, this amount of water coming very quickly in a short period of time, was definitely unprecedented,” she said. BBC Radio Wales Sunday Supplement.
“I do think that now, given climate change and the number of major weather events we're seeing, we really need to rethink flood defenses.”
She said she would push for “more money for residents and more money for clean-up and more money for flood defences”, with flooding also in Abergavenny and the nearby village of Skenfrith, which has “flooded every year for the last five years”.
“One of the most amazing things when I was at the Monmouth Leisure Center yesterday was the incredible staff and volunteers who would just come in off the street and say, 'I'll take care of this family, I can take this family,' and friends of the people who were there would gather around and take people with cats and dogs and so on who couldn't get into hotels into their homes.”
South Wales Fire and Rescue Service said it had dealt with more than 80 calls by Saturday afternoon.
Monmouth business owner Katherine Hall's store was flooded and resident Susie Martinez and her sons were rescued by boat early this morning. [BBC]
Susie Martinez, 42, told how she and her sons, nine-year-old Louis and five-year-old Joey, were rescued from their Monmouth apartment at 3.30am on Saturday.
“We had to climb out of the window and get into the boat,” she said.
“It was terrible.”
Business owner Catherine Hall said her store remains open to customers despite the damage.
“There are six weeks left until Christmas and I don’t know what will happen before then.
“It's devastating. Thousands and thousands of shares have disappeared.”
An MP has urged shoppers not to stay away from Monmouth during their Christmas shopping in the coming weeks to ensure flood-affected businesses continuing to clean up on Sunday do not miss out on trade.
“Businesses are open there today, so please don't avoid Monmouth for the next six weeks because we'll figure it out quickly,” she said.
The Welsh Government said the flooding was having a “devastating impact” and this year alone it had invested “a record £77 million in flood defenses as part of our commitment to fund improved flood defenses for 45,000 homes in this Senedd”.
