Residents of a Hereford street are once again counting the cost after the river Wye burst its banks and flooded several homes.

The river level rose quickly over the course of Monday due to a weekend of heavy rain during Storm Franklin, and five houses in Greyfriars Avenue were inundated with water.

This is the third time in two years that the area has suffered from a major flood after Storm Dennis in February 2020 and Storm Christoph in January last year.

OTHER NEWS:

Damien Poulter, who lives on the street, said: "I'm just desperately sad for the families who have been affected again. It's not so long ago that people had finally been able to clear up from the last storm."

"They're trying to move on and now it's happened to them all over again."

Flood warden Colin Taylor was keeping an eye on the river levels and was surprised when the Environment Agency downgraded the river peak prediction to 5.1m on Monday morning.

The river eventually peaked at 5.38m on Monday evening, below the record of 6.11 metres set in February 2020.

Mr Taylor said: "We were relieved when we heard that the peak was predicted to be lower than first thought, but as the day wore on, and the water level kept on going up and up, we knew that they had got it wrong and that flooding was inevitable."

"Five houses were flooded, and we evacuated one elderly resident to a local guest house who was worried about the approaching water"

OTHER NEWS:

Colin was also shocked at the extent of the flooding after what had been an unusually dry January and early February.

Mr Taylor said: "We keep an eye on the weather round this area, probably more than most. I know we've had these storms, but all everyone was talking about was the wind. The amount of rain that has fallen up in Wales doesn't seem to justify the severity of the flooding that everyone has experienced."

Ashleigh Good has been living on Greyfriars Avenue for 11 years and can see more of these events occurring on a regular basis.

Ashleigh said: "Since we got flooded in October 2019, it's just been one after another. I'd never known it happen here before then. We're not sure what's changed? Who knows?

"Unfortunately, I think these floods could be a regular occurrence before anything is done about it. It feels like we are constantly just waiting for the next one.

"Luckily, we are a lot more prepared for these events than we were before Storm Dennis, and we have a good team of people making sure everyone is safe should the worst happen."