More financial support announced for businesses affected by Storm Bert flooding

More financial support has been announced for businesses affected by flooding following last month’s Storm Bert.

Rhondda Cynon Taf council declared a major incident as a result of severe rain and flooding caused by Storm Bert on November 23 and 24.

General reserves

While the costs of immediate recovery and repair are still being calculated as the scale of the incident is still being assessed an immediate allocation of £500,000 was made from the council’s general reserves to support the recovery including a community flood recovery grant (hardship payment) made available for residents and businesses who had suffered internal flooding at their premises.

The council is continuing to engage with Welsh Government over funding but in the interim it agreed that a further £500,000 would be made available from the council’s general reserves in order to ensure there is enough immediately available to continue the recovery and to cover the initial targeted resilience across businesses in RCT.

Anti-flood measures

Half of that £500,000 is set aside to support a business flood resilience grant fund to support small and medium-sized businesses to put in place anti-flood measures which would improve their resilience to deal with any potential future significant weather events.

This might include:

Doors (internal and floodgates to doorways)
Water-resistant floor coverings and skirting (for example tiling)
Internal moisture-resistant wall boarding or tiles
Raising of power points
A grant up to £10,000 would be available per business.

The council’s director of prosperity and development will be responsible for putting in place the arrangements for the administration of the scheme, including the basis of eligibility and assessment.