Clear up underway following Storm Babet

A clean up is underway today in many communities around Newtown following the torrential rain that hit the area as Storm Babet wreaked havoc.

Bettws Cedewain was one area badly affected with many properties flooded in the village centre when the normally idylic River Bechan burst its banks.

It has emerged that the area was struck by a month's worth of rain in just a few hours, resulting in rivers and streams unable to cope and roads flooded from water flowing off the hills.

Last night, Powys County Council’s Highways, Transport and Recycling Service shared a graph highlighting the amount of water that hit the area.

“Just to put events into context, here’s a graph showing the rainfall gauge for Welshpool,” a spokesperson said: “So far this month, already, we have seen 141mm of rainfall here. And, we have just had almost a month’s worth of average rainfall (60mm) in the last 24 hours.”

Many roads in the area are now becoming passable, although the emergency services are urging motorists to be carefuk as some debris will be on many lanes and roads yet to be cleared.

Powys County Council has teams out ensuring drains are unblocked and assisting communities affected, in addition to the Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service.