One year ago this week, Storm Claudia ripped across south Wales, causing devastation in Monmouthshire. Monmouthshire County Council’s flood investigation report has answered some questions and raised others. According to the report, as well as saturated ground, there was exceptional localised rainfall from the Black Mountains across to the Golden Valley in Herefordshire.

This area constitutes the upper catchment for the Monnow, which explains why the Monnow saw such a devastating flood while some other local rivers did not. The report shows that Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and the local authority still have lots of work to do to reduce the risk to residents hit hardest by Storm Claudia, not to mention residents in other parts of the county that remain at risk too. Many are still struggling with the impacts of the flood, but the investigation report also shows that many are not well prepared for a future flood event with 40% of affected residents surveyed saying they had still not signed up for NRW flood warnings, which can be done through the NRW website.

If you believe you may be at risk of flooding, you should visit befloodready.co.uk and read the guidance also available on the NRW website. At the time I wrote to the then Welsh Labour Government to ask how they were supporting local people and local organisations through the crisis. The then Minister spoke of significant investment in the Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Fund which, though it could not help those in most immediate need, was nonetheless important to addressing this issue for the long term.

Following my question to the new Plaid Cymru minister this week, I am pleased to report that the new Welsh government is treating this issue with the seriousness it deserves. Over £1.4 million has been made available to this constituency in this financial year alone; money which, it's estimated, will benefit almost a thousand homes in the area. I also asked specifically about the Wales Flood Forum, a Plaid Cymru manifesto commitment that will both invite flood affected communities like our own to share their experience and learning, and also provide them with support into the future. That commitment has been reiterated in Plaid Cymru's Programme for Government and work has already begun on setting up the Forum. As always, if you have any concerns about anything locally, flood related or otherwise, please do get in touch.