Deluge floods town centre (From Milford Mercury)

Deluge floods town centre

10:15am Thursday 16th July 2009

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The centre of Haverfordwest was hit by severe flooding on Monday night, after heavy rain caused manhole covers in Castle Square to blow, resulting in a deluge of stinking flood water engulfing businesses.

A severe weather warning was issued by the Met Office on Monday and fire fighters were on standby, but in the whole mid and west Wales area, only Haverfordwest was hit by flooding.

Fire crews from Milford and Haverfordwest were called to four floods in the space of 30 minutes – The Friar’s Vault, Superdrug, the probation service building in High Street and Castle Square.

They used ejector pumps, a low pressure hose, mops and buckets to help with the clear up operation.

Castle Square cafe owner Rachel Jones suffered around £10,000 worth of damage to her business, Coco coffee bar.

She had closed the coffee bar on Monday for renovation and decoration. She had just put down her paintbrushes, when her cafe was deluged with what she describes as “three foot of stinking sewerage water”.

“It was like wall of water, a mini tidal wave,” said Rachel. “It took hold very quickly. The pressure was intense, locked drain covers were blown out of floors and our fridge went floating off.

“There was no stopping it.”

Among the things ruined by the stinking water were two fridges, a freezer, furniture, a brand new dishwasher and a £6,000 coffee machine.

However, Rachel was determined not to let the torrent ruin her re-opening. With hoards of friends, staff, fire fighters and council workers, she rolled up her sleeves and got on with the clean up, so that the cafe could re-open on Wednesday morning.

“It was Castle Square at its best,” she said.

“Everyone in my phone book came to help, along with staff from the Castle Hotel, the station diner, the bakery next door and the Friars Vaults. People stayed until 10pm.

“I felt gutted when it happened, but at that point you get on with it, clear it up and get it sorted.”

Further flooding hit the town on Tuesday night. At 4.44pm the internal ceiling of Jolly Jumpers day nursery collapsed under the weight of floodwater. Fire fighters were involved in shoring up and stabilising the ceiling. Haverfordwest fire fighters were also called to a property in Kestrel Road.

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