Planned quarry blast caused homes in village to flood

A planned quarry blast caused a "substantial volume" of water from old iron mine workings to flood homes in a village, an investigation has found.

Fifteen properties were affected and 13 homes had to be evacuated, with roads left blocked, when a torrent hit Gwaelod-y-Garth, near Cardiff, last Thursday afternoon.

Investigators have visited nearby Taff's Well Quarry and gone underground at Garth Iron Mine and concluded it was an "isolated incident", the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has said.

"We recognise the concern this incident has caused for local residents... particularly those living close to the quarrying operations," it added.

Mine and quarry inspectors have since confirmed underground rock voids holding the water, and an underground tunnel, "have not been compromised in the incident", said the HSE.

There were reports of water 5ft (1.5m) deep in some homes with a trail of mud and debris blocking roads in the aftermath.

Gwaelod-y-Garth resident Laura Fergusson said there was "an explosion" a couple of minutes before the water arrived through the village.

She said the "whole house shook" and it felt "like a mini earthquake".

Steven Mordecai, another resident from the area, said he was "shocked" to see a "wall of water" when he went to the back of his garden.

Mordecai said the brown water reached up to his waist, before the force of the flooding pushed him back.

"I grabbed hold of my gate and I was floating. It was so forceful it was unreal," he said.

Cardiff Council has been coordinating clean-up work in the community, said the HSE.

Speaking previously, resident Debi Bode said she was left bailing water out of her home "constantly" for hours on the day of the flood.

"We managed to keep it down below the electrics, which meant that we could turn them back on later and stay [in the house]," she said.

"We had no chance of sleeping. I was terrified because the electrics were back on. I thought knowing my luck, after the flood we'll wake up to a fire or something."

Mandy Symonds, whose home has been in her family since her grandparents owned it, described the scene as "absolutely devastating".

"I would like somebody from Breedons to come in and see the damage to my house and my garden, which is professionally landscaped and cost me a lot of money," she said.

"Explain to me why that was allowed to happen."

The Breedon Group confirmed there had been an "incident in its quarry" in a previous statement.

It said it was "working closely with the relevant authorities while engaging with the local community as we respond to the situation".

The HSE said: "This is an isolated incident where a substantial quantity of rock from a planned blast entered one of four interconnected known bodies of water collected in the old iron mine workings.

"A substantial volume of that water was displaced out of an existing mine adit [tunnel]."

The quarry and mine have both been subject to geotechnical assessment by specialists, it said.

It added information used in the blast design, which was developed by specialist blasting contractors, would be the "focus of our ongoing investigations".