Risca begins clean up after 'devastating' Storm Bert flooding

The town was one of the worst hit areas across Gwent as Storm Bert descended on Wales on Sunday, leaving multiple businesses and roads still heavily flooded into Monday. 

Commercial Street, the main road into Risca, was closed off to traffic heading towards Lidl, while further up the street, the local police station and One Stop remained completely inaccessible on Monday morning as floodwater reached up to their doorsteps. 

Commercial Street in Risca was completely inaccessible by the police station and One Stop due to flooding (Image: NQ) Many businesses were affected, and were forced to remain closed on Monday while the clean up process began. 

One of those was the Mill Café, whose damage was so bad that the water had got into the floors and equipment. 

Kerri Miller (right) and Hannah Pearce of the Mill Café have no idea when they will be able to reopen as they need to replace all of their equipment and flooring (Image: NQ) Staff members Kerri Miller and Hannah Pearce told the Argus they would be unable to reopen the café with the floors in their current situation. 

They explained: "It's going to be a really big operation to get everything back the way it needs to be before we can safely reopen. 

"We'll need new equipment, flooring and tables and chairs.  The water has even got under our floors so we can't open like this.

"We're not 100 per cent sure when we will be able to reopen, but we'll make sure we keep everyone informed on our socials."

Knights Pharmacy on Commercial Street has also been badly hit. 

Knights Pharmacy had water up to the second shelf and part of their door on Sunday afternoon, with much of the clean up now being to scrape floodwater out of the shop (Image: Jane Clements)Dispensary manager Jane Clements and her team were on site early Monday morning to asses the complete damage and begin the clean up. 

She said: "It looked like a river when we came over on Sunday. I came up in the morning, around 10, and it didn't look too bad, but by the time I came back at 3pm that afternoon, it was reaching the second shelf in some cases."

Charity shop St David's Hospice had their branch completely destroyed by the floods. 

St David's Hospice charity shop has been completely destroyed and won't be able to open over Christmas (Image: NQ) According to head of retail Ross Hughes, the damage is so bad that they won't be open until January at the earliest. 

He said: "We are devastated to not be able to support the community who have been so generous with donations."

Not all businesses were flooded, including Sugarbox Clinic. 

Chantalle and Catrin Coombes of Sugarbox with Hassan Hussain of Dio Barbers (Image: NQ) Chantalle Coombes of Sugarbox said: "We've been really lucky that we weren't flooded, but we've been impressed with how the community has come together."