The body responsible for assessing the likelihood of flooding in areas across Wales has admitted it could not monitor the River Gavenny on the night of Storm Claudia, resulting in severe flooding across the town.

Natural Resources Wales told the Chronicle that while a flood alert, the equivalent of an amber-level warning, was issued for the River Usk, this was the only intelligence it had to assess the risk posed to properties in the area at the time.

"Storm Claudia has had a significant impact on communities across Wales, particularly in Monmouthshire. The effects of flooding are devastating, and our thoughts are with everyone affected,” Andy Wall, National Flood Risk Services Manager for NRW said.

“Our flood warning service is a key part of the range of interventions we take to reduce the risk of flooding to communities. This free service provides vital advance warning to those at risk from flooding from rivers and the sea, giving time to take action to reduce the impact on people and property.”

While the flood alert for the River Usk, which was issued on late afternoon on Thursday November 13, covers the catchment for the River Gavenny and Afon Cibi, the organisation said it would have been a challenge to provide a timely and accurate warning for homes and businesses near Abergavenny’s smaller waterways.

“Our community warning service is available to about two thirds of properties at risk from rivers or the sea in Wales,” Mr Wall continued.

“However, we cannot provide a community specific flood warning for every river or small watercourse. Although we provide a flood warning service for the River Usk in Abergavenny, smaller rivers such as the River Gavenny and Afon Cibi respond very quickly to rainfall, making it technically challenging to provide timely and accurate warnings.”

“An accurate but late warning is of no benefit to those who need to take action, while timely but very inaccurate warnings lead to high “false alarm” rates, a lack of confidence in the warnings and even people de-registering from the service.”

However, the organisation did acknowledge that extending the alert system to some smaller waterways which were closer to people’s homes and businesses could be important for the local community.

“For smaller rivers, we are unable to offer a warning service which would be of value to the community,” he said.

“It is for similar reasons that there are no warning services in Wales or the UK for surface water flooding.”

People can check the latest river levels in the nearby catchment area for an indication of what sort of conditions to expect and forecasts from the Met Office, such as the amber warning for rain issued ahead of Storm Claudia, should be considered in such circumstances.

There also opportunities for flood action groups to be established in local areas, where communities can get together to better protect themselves from the impact flooding has on them.

“We work with community flood volunteers across Wales to help communities be better prepared for flooding,” Mr Wall concluded.

“If people wish to establish flood action groups we can help them, for example we provide community and personal flood plan templates and organise network events across Wales where those affected by flooding can share their experiences.

“Visit naturalresources.wales/flooding for more information.”