3. Statement by the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs: Emergency Flood Summit Update

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:19 pm on 25 February 2020.

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Photo of Lesley Griffiths Lesley Griffiths Labour 3:19, 25 February 2020

I'd like to begin by echoing Leanne Wood's remarks around the community volunteers, and I mentioned volunteers, the third sector and the communities in my statement too. I certainly saw that right across Wales over the last two weeks, and that coming together of communities.

I agree with you, I think last week was one of the toughest weeks I've had as an elected representative, to see the devastation and the trauma, and I don't think 'trauma' is too strong a word to use with people who, as you say, have lost everything. And I repeat again, I think we've been very lucky that nobody was killed. I'm sorry to hear that you came across anger, frustration and blame, because I certainly didn't. Last week, nobody said that word to me; everybody was incredibly grateful. I do appreciate that it's very early days and there is a long way to go. And if your house has had 4 ft of water—. The two streets I was in in Blaenau Gwent, which had never flooded before, they went from six inches to 4 ft of water at 3 o'clock in the morning in 20 minutes. That is so traumatic, and I absolutely would have understood if they were angry with me, but what I got in those streets was, 'Please let me go upstairs and make you and your team a cup of tea, because you're very cold and wet.' So, I didn't come across that. I certainly would understand if I had, but I think people were just incredibly grateful. And you heard the First Minister say in his answers that that was the first thing that they wanted to share—their gratitude for the support and help they received.

In relation to the drainage network, I know, over the weekend—. On the Sunday, I spoke to Andrew Morgan, the leader of RCT, and there were some culverts that they cleared three times. From Friday evening, knowing the storm was coming, they cleared them three times, but, each time, debris was coming off the mountain or from the rivers or from streets. So, we are providing 100 per cent funding for clearance of grids and culverts going forward to assist local authorities to do that very quickly.

You mentioned about learning from other countries, and, of course, best practice should always be shared, and I'd be very happy if any Members have got any examples of best practice, but, certainly, I think we must look at other countries to see how they do it, in the way that other countries are looking, for instance, at coal tips. We are international experts there; we have people from all over the world come to this country to look at that.

Psychological—and you mentioned children specifically, and I know that Delyth Jewell raised that with the Trefnydd in her statement. You will have heard that this is completely a cross-Government response to the flooding, and, obviously, this is an issue that we can take up with the Minister for health and the Minister for Education—they're both here to hear your question around that. 

In relation to the cost of energy, clearly this is going to be ongoing as part of the costs going forward. It's not just about infrastructure; it is about such things as for people to get those dehumidifiers in the houses. But this is—. As I say, this is going to be a long-term approach; it could be months before people are able to return to their homes, for instance, so we need to look at that as part of our ongoing response.