Friday, 14 February 2014

Bob Thomas, 77, dies after being hit by falling tree in Gwynedd

Engineers have been working around the clock to restore electricity supplies
A man has died in hospital after being hit by a falling tree in his garden in Gwynedd in Wednesday's storm.

Bob Thomas, 77, was with his wife gathering their hens at his home in Caethro, Caernarfon, when a tree fell and hit him.

Paramedics took him to hospital in Bangor before he was taken to a special unit in Stoke but he has since died.

On Friday, engineers continued to work to reconnect power to thousands of homes as the bad weather continued.

Some roads were closed by flooding while fallen trees remain a problem blocking routes in parts of the country.

The Met Office has issued yellow "be aware" warnings for heavy rain and wind which both run overnight into Saturday.

Around 13,500 properties in mid and north Wales have no power, and just under 400 in south and west Wales.

But Friday's weather has not been as severe as on Wednesday, when Mr Thomas was hit by a tree during storms featuring winds of over 100 mph.

A Welsh Ambulance Service spokesperson said: "We were called at 4.57pm on Wednesday to reports a man had been struck by a tree in Caethro, Caernarfon.

"We sent an emergency ambulance to the scene, and a man in his 70s with serious injuries was taken to Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor."

According to family friends he was then transferred to Stoke on Trent where he died on Thursday evening.

Meanwhile Natural Resources Minister Alun Davies said flood and coastal defences had performed well.

He was welcoming the findings of a flood review he commissioned from Natural Resources Wales following the storms of December and January.

The review found that despite the ferocity of the storms, less than 1% of the properties and agricultural land at potential risk were actually flooded.

"The damage and disruption to the coast has been significant and my sympathies are very much with those families, businesses and communities affected," he said.


Plenty to clear-up - in Porthmadog, roofing ripped up at the town's train station

At the height of the storm, winds hit 108 mph in parts of Gwynedd
"However, this report shows that without our continued investment in flood and coastal defences, the picture could have been far worse."

In north Wales on Friday, 11 schools were closed in Wrexham, Gwynedd, and Anglesey. Four were shut in Pembrokeshire.

First Great Western has cancelled some Swansea to London Paddington services due to flooding and urges travellers to check for updates.

Irish Ferries said due to adverse weather conditions on the Irish Sea its Swift Sailings from Holyhead to Dublin have been cancelled.

ScottishPower, which is responsible for the electricity network across north and mid Wales, said Friday's weather could cause further problems for its teams already struggling to reconnect customer supplies since Wednesday's storm.

Guy Jefferson from ScottishPower told BBC Wales that expected 60 to 70 mph gusts make it "dangerous in terms of working at heights".

"It's going to be a real battle today," he said.

"We are doing our best to get everybody back on as soon as possible."

He said over 1,000 staff have been working in the field to fix problems.

The Met Office said 40mm of rain was possible across south Wales on Friday. An earlier snow warning was stood down.

Two flood warnings remain in force in Wales, covering the River Wye at Monmouth and the Lower Dee Valley from Llangollen to Trevalyn Meadows.

Natural Resources Wales also had several flood alerts in place.

Gwynedd council leader Dyfed Edwards said damage from several recent storms was proving costly with a number of schools and a leisure centre shut due to concern about public safety.

"We have got a calculator permanently working out a running total," he said.

"The last time I looked it was something not far from £1m and that will have an effect on our budget.

"We will be speaking with the Welsh government and ministers in terms of what they can do to offer us assistance," he told BBC Radio Wales.


With hurricane-force winds came massive waves at coastal locations like Porthcawl in south Wales

Flats in Aberystwyth had to be evacuated due to structural damage.
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