Residents of Gwaelod-y-Garth were evacuated after floodwater swept through the village on Thursday afternoon, leaving some homes with water up to 5ft deep in the basal of the Garth. Roads were shut and emergency services stayed at the scene while people were told to avoid the area.
Laura Fergusson said she heard "an explosion" a couple of minutes before the water arrived. She said, "The whole house shook" and added that it felt "like a mini earthquake" as the floodwater reached the village.
Gwaelod-y-Garth on Thursday
Residents said they heard a loud blast from the direction of Taff's Well at about 12:30 BST. Huge amounts of water then started rushing down the hillside, and pictures from social media showed gardens, local roads and a football club flooded. Those at the scene told Wales that the water was no longer flowing down the main road from the direction of Pentyrch, but that a lot of dirty brown water remained.
Breedon Group and Dwr Cymru
Breedon Group said there had been an "incident in its quarry". Dwr Cymru said the incident was not related to its pipe network. That leaves the route of the floodwater and the trigger for the blast as the main unanswered points in the account given by residents and the companies involved.
Steven Mordecai said he saw "a wall of water" when he went to the back of his garden. He said, "I grabbed hold of my gate and I was floating. It was so forceful it was unreal," while one family was turned back at a police cordon and did not know how badly their home had been affected.
Floodwater in Cardiff
The flooding hit a village on the outskirts of Cardiff and left roads shut as the water moved through homes and gardens. For residents, the immediate task is simple: stay away from the cordoned area until the road closures and the scene itself allow access again.
