Nearly £300,000 paid out to homes and businesses devastated by Storm Claudia

Twm Owen, Local Democracy Reporter

Nearly £300,000 has been paid households and businesses washed out by last November’s giant Storm Claudia.

Monmouthshire County Council has also been awarded £4.1 million in flood recovery funding to fund works to repair landslips across the county caused by the downpour though it has warned longer-term damage is still being assessed.

Heavy rain caused the River Monnow in Monmouth to reach 18-times its normal level overwhelming flood defences in the early hours of a Saturday and sending torrents of water through streets, homes and businesses along the riverbank, including lower parts of Monnow Street in the town centre.

The county’s council has confirmed Storm Claudia had cost its £543,000 in additional spending across a range of services.

A number of its own buildings also suffered flood damage but will be fully covered by insurance though damage to property such as public benches, footpaths and car parks isn’t covered by insurance as those are deemed to be “uninsurable”.

Damage and repair costs for council owned property and assets was estimated, in February, at £9m with around £3.5m of that likely to be uninsured.

The latest update on costs incurred by the council from the storm is included in the authority’s financial outturn report, for the 2025/26 financial year, which details all spending during the year.

That confirms the cost of repairing damage sustained at council owned assets at Osbaston Primary, Overmonnow family learning centre and Drybridge House will be fully covered by insurance.

The report also confirms the council received a grant of £88,000 from the Welsh Government’s emergency financial assistance scheme which was paid into the revenue budget that covers day to day spending.

The report warns the full costs of Storm Claudia on the council’s capital budget, which covers one off spending commitments, still aren’t fully known and states: “The longer-term capital impact of Storm Claudia remains uncertain.

“The full extent of longer-term damage across the council’s infrastructure assets will take time to assess, and this continuing uncertainty will need to be managed carefully within the wider capital programme.”

The council has secured £4.142m of Welsh Government flood recovery funding to support the repair of major landslip events caused by the storm including at Llanthoney Valley, Forest Coal Pit and Cwmyoy.

A total of £288,000 in support payments were made to households and businesses affected by the storm which was fully funded by a Welsh Government grant meaning there was no cost to the council’s final budget.