Glimpses of the sun between rain clouds, and periodic showers all morning. Housekeeping chores after breakfast, then I hunted through my photo archive in search of photos of the story Dennis flooding. It took longer than I expected. I was sure I took photos using my Sony HX90, but they weren't in any of my Cloud accounts, or stored on a hard drive.
All I found was a date gap of a few days, but there was still a last resort. As SD cards became cheaper, I stopped transferring photos to other storage media and recycling the card. The last one I examined was the last one I filled covering 2019-21, and there I found a couple of dozen flood photos from 16-17th February 2020. The inundation was worse then, not as I remembered, as water covered the path as far as the rubbish bin about 300m from the river bank. The river banks broke both sides, but the volume of water moves faster since the river bed was cleared up, so the overspill isn't as extensive this time.
A hundred homes inundated by Taff overflowing in Pontypridd, and Ynysangharad Park flooded, and Ponty Lido surrounded and invaded by flood water. It happened during storm 'Dennis' in February 2020 and put out of action for several years. Flood protection measures taken then were not enough to prevent recurrence. The park was slow to recover due to rain during and after the National Eisteddfod.
Flood hit municipalities here and abroad come in for strong criticism for lack of preparedness or tardy responses to weather warnings. It's as if those responsible underestimate or cannot imagine the true seriousness of the impact of climate change, despite what scientists keep telling us. It's not exactly denial, but inherent inability to consider that things could be so bad, so quickly. Economic and social priorities need to become more proactive, instead of reactive, to avoid ruinous upheaval. It's not a good place to be.
After tracking down the missing photos I cooked a chick pea curry with brown rice for lunch. It turned out well, and just the right amount for two with no leftovers. Then I went down to Blackweir to check the river and was surprised to see that almost all the water had drained out of the fields. Gulls and crows were having a party around the edges of the remaining small ponds, foraging for worms and other creatures brought to the surface by the water.
The river overflow washes not only soil containing organic matter on to the paths and surrounding grass but red sandstone sediment, and on top of this a smaller amount of black sediment, possibly particles of coal duty remaining from half a century ago when the waters of the Taff up-river were used for washing coal. There are still places where traces of coal still persist in the woodland soil along the Taff, rather than the riverbed, and this gets washed down when the river bursts its banks.
Once I'd taken photos I returned home and took a shopping list with me to Tesco's to stock up on fresh fruit and a few other rather heavy things we were lacking, and got back just after the sun set. After a cup of tea and some chocolate cake, I made the video slide show to go with the recording of my first Wednesday Morning Prayer and uploaded it to YouTube just before supper.
Later on I found a new series to watch on Channel 4 Walter Presents called 'Judge Marianne'. It's a sort of lightweight crime comedy as opposed to thriller, focusing on the cases of a judge d'instruction - the investigating magistrate in the French legal system, whose role is to manage police enquiries when the prosecutor considers there is a crime to consider and deliver evidence to the prosecutor. It's different from our British legal system procedure, which a police superintendent manages an investigation in consultation with the Department for Public Prosecution, if I understand things correctly. Anyway the setting for these stories is Toulon on the French Riviera Cote du Var. The scenery and the dialogue is familiar and easy to follow, thanks to the year we spent living in the region. Quite funny, but with tragic thoughtful elements.
Big rumbles of thunder and a noisy shower of rain at bed time.
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