00:00There is a genuine question that's coming loud and clear from those communities that
00:06if there was a greater warning, then there could have been more preventative measures
00:10put in place.
00:11I fully accept the force of the water in many areas was enormous, but there is a genuine
00:18point around a yellow alert being issued when we were forecast by the meteorologists and
00:26others that a month's rain was going to fall in a 24, 36-hour period.
00:32Clearly there will be lessons to learn, as we learned them last time, and we will need
00:37to work with Natural Resources Wales in terms of seeing if there could have been better
00:44warning.
00:45And I've called a meeting next week with local authorities and NRW to assess the situation.
00:52The Welsh Government have said that they invest hundreds of millions of pounds into
00:56flood defences and preparedness schemes, and say the funds are vital to keeping communities
01:00safe.
01:01They also say that they will directly fund people who have been affected by the recent
01:04flooding and encourage people to contact the relevant agencies.
01:08Welsh Government will provide funding to eligible local authorities to provide immediate financial
01:14support to those whose homes have been flooded.
01:17We recognise that there are many immediate practical needs for people in such awful circumstances,
01:24so we will be funding councils to provide grants of £500 and £1,000 to affected households.
01:32And to return to those customers in RCT impacted by Dŵr Cymru's boil notice, I welcome the
01:37confirmation by Dŵr Cymru that they will be offering £150 to all customers affected.
01:43In saying all of this, Dirprwy Lywydd, I recognise that this is going to be of little
01:47comfort to people whose homes and businesses were impacted over this weekend, but this
01:52impact is exactly why this investment continues to be so important.
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