Hereford Community Anticipates Flooding as River Wye Levels Climb

A street in Hereford is once again preparing for potential inundation, as projections indicate that water levels in the River Wye will continue to rise on Sunday. The Environment Agency (EA) reports that the river is expected to reach its highest point during the afternoon, following significant rainfall in the Welsh Hills. Although the river’s current levels are elevated and increasing, they are not predicted to exceed the record highs observed in February 2020. “We’re expecting a reasonably large flood,” stated Colin Taylor, a local flood warden and resident of Greyfriars Avenue. “We’re all prepared, and just waiting for it to come and go.” Taylor noted that initial forecasts had indicated the water levels would peak at 03:00 GMT, which had resulted in an anxious overnight wait. He voiced dissatisfaction with the EA’s current predictions, saying, “We’re not too happy about the EA’s prediction at the moment – it’s so important to us, the predictions are so important to us, to get them right.” He added, “Most of us have been up all night waiting for this 3 o’clock which never happened – so we’ve got a lot of bleary eyed people in the avenue at the moment.” He further explained that flood defences had been erected around the residences, with the hope that while homes might be surrounded by water, the floodwaters would not penetrate them. “All the flood wardens are all prepared, and we’re just waiting for it to peak and then for it to drop.” In October 2019, the riverbank overflowed, leading to flooding in Greyfriars. Following Storm Dennis in February 2020, the Wye Bridge river gauge recorded the highest ever river level at 6.11m. This event caused flooding up to a metre deep in some properties, and the level was 11cm higher than the estimated height of the historic 1795 flood. The Greyfriars area experienced further impact in January 2021. Subsequent to Storm Darragh, this weekend’s river levels are projected to reach 17.3ft (5.3m) at the Old Wye Bridge gauge on Sunday. “It is much lower than 2020 but the river is rising rather fast at the moment,” Mr Taylor commented. He expressed his belief that river levels should then return to a more typical state by the conclusion of Monday. In March, the EA announced that consultants had assessed the flood risk within the Greyfriars community, and a project team was developing a business case to evaluate available options.