Moment gardens gardens collapsed into river in landslide

SWNS 2024-02-02

Views 44.4K

Shocking footage captures gardens that collapsed into a river after a landslide.

A substantial chunk of two family's land fell into the River Tawe at around 4:30am on Thursday in Ystradgynlais near Powys in Wales.

Photos and videos taken by a local resident reveal a large part of gardens, along with debris and a crumbling boundary wall in the river.

Catrin Phillips took the footage.

They explained: "The river wall has been undercutting for years and the residents have been seeking help from a number of authorities to no avail.

"I know they have had a number of sink holes appearing in their gardens too.

"It was inevitable that it was going to fall, it was just a matter of time unfortunately for the homeowners - it's heartbreaking for them."

Though they said it was lucky to have collapsed when it did - as if it would have been during the day, more than just the garden could have been affected.

They added: "It's just fortunate that it happened at 04:30 and not during the day time.

"Residents are often in their gardens and local people are often down by the river with their children and dogs.

"The outcome could have been very different had it been during daytime".

The post was shared on a community group online, where locals were quick to comment.

One said: "Thinking of the residents who have been fighting with Powys and Welsh Water for over 10 years to build a new wall.

"Maybe now one of them will take responsibility! It’s just too bad this had to happen to them."

Another commented: "It was actually 4.30 that's my house and half the garden went with it, perhaps we'll get some help now, the authorities were informed it was moving about 4 weeks ago & they didn't even get back to us!".

Powys County Council said: "Powys County Council was made aware of a wall collapse on a section of the River Tawe in Ystradgynlais this morning and local officers attended to assess the situation.

"The River Tawe is designated as a main river and therefore the lead authority in this instance would be Natural Resources Wales.

"We have passed details on to them and they should be contacted for further information."

NRW operations manager for land and assets, Neil Stoddart added: "We are aware that a part of a retaining wall has collapsed into the river at Ystradgynlais and we sympathise with the effected landowner.

"Our engineers will visit the area to investigate and to assess any added flood risk caused by the incident."

Share This Video


Download

  
Report form