Teams from across Monmouthshire County Council’s workforce responded to heavy and persistent rain across the region yesterday ( Wednesday) by working through the night to support residents, unblock drains, deal with road closures and deliver sandbags.

In addition, gritting lorries salted all scheduled routes as temperatures dropped throughout the night, while the council’s contact centre dealt with a high volume of calls.

Care staff remained busy all day, prioritising calls and rescheduling when necessary. Staff visited rural areas in pairs to ensure safety, keeping in close touch and alerting colleagues to potential travel problems.

While some calls were shortened, all those requiring assistance received help.

The entire road network was flooded by 8pm last night and the county’s highways staff advised people to stay at home due to the dangerous conditions.

Key areas included the A472 at Little Mill, St Brides Road at Magor, Tintern’s Forge Road, Osbaston Road in Monmouth and Main Road, Portskewett. Other areas badly affected were Skenfrith, Llantrisant, Llangwm and the route taken by the Olway Brook on the outskirts of Usk.

Meanwhile, a blocked drain at Castle Lea in Caldicot cleared on Thursday morning prevented the risk of flooding in the area.

High river levels throughout the night caused concern but these continued to fall by this morning. Police and fire services attended Monmouth’s Riverside Park but authorities agreed not to evacuate residents.

However, some houses in Magor and Portskewett were flooded and the council’s grounds and cleansing teams have lent their support.

Staff will start clean-up operations as soon as possible but residents have been warned that debris on roads and footpaths could cause hazards.

Further heavy rain and high winds are likely during Saturday night into the early hours of Sunday and the council has prepared teams to stand by in Abergavenny, Monmouth and Caldicot as well as ensure supplies of sand bags for the weekend.

Council Leader Peter Fox OBE said: “Rain across Monmouthshire fell heavily virtually all day but key workers from the council and other organisations put in a difficult and valuable shift to help residents and keep communications open.

’’I’m extremely grateful to them for their hard work in often extreme conditions. Thank you for everyone continuing to stay home and stay safe this Christmas while the virus is still with us.”

Further information will be available from Natural Resources Wales, Met Office and the council’s Facebook and Twitter social media channels.