In my regular weekly phone conversation with my sister in the English Midlands, last Monday I shared worries about storm Christoph. It was clearly going to dump loads of water on already sodden ground in her area in England after it had finished with us. Neath Abbey and Cadoxton will flood again, I said, they always do. But you should be safe, she consoled, because you live up a hill.
Thursday's floods in Skewen demonstrated how fragile our confidence can be. Somewhere on the hillside above me, water burst out - probably from historic mine-workings, with which Skewen is riddled - inundating post-war housing development on the Goshen Park estate. The floods continued down Drummau Road (top left in the picture) to the main road and also flowed along Dynevor (Dinefwr) Road (left to right in the picture). The line of trees across the top right of the photo marks the line of the embankment on which the Great Western railway line was built, blocking off the road in which I live and saving a large part of Skewen from disaster.
As I write, the water is said to be still flowing. Residents have been advised not to return to evacuated properties this weekend and that it may be months before their lives are back to normal. The Coal Authority is investigating the source of the outburst and, if it is an old mine-shaft, capping it properly.
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