HOMES in one part of Hereford have again been hit by flooding as river levels continue to rise.

Greyfriars Avenue, in Hereford, is underwater again this morning, after the river Wye rose past the previously predicted peak of 5.2m.

Flood warden Colin Taylor said this morning that the water has risen to the car park at the top of the street and that houses in the street have flooded.

The street has previously fallen victim to flooding, with most properties flooded in February 2020 in the wake of Storm Dennis, when the level reached 6.11 metres.

The level on the Wye at 7.30am on Friday is currently at 5.33m.

Mr Taylor said he is currently out in the avenue delivering emergency pumps after a number of the pumps that were previously put in place in the street failed overnight.

"It's pretty devastating," Mr Taylor said.

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"The Environment Agency said it would peak at 5.2m last night, but it's over that now and still rising. We have got a bit of an issue here, but we are all prepared."

Mr Taylor said that some of the flood defences had failed, and that the street had limited warning that they were going to flood, after the Environment Agency's warning system failed yesterday.

A flood alert had previously been in force for the area, but as a result of the warning system failure, they were not warned that serious flooding could be on the way until 11am yesterday.

"None of us knew it was on the way, but we got the barriers up and people evacuated," Mr Taylor said.

Mr Taylor said the water at the rowing club end of the street is currently waist-deep.

But, he said, although river levels are currently falling in Wales, he fears the worst is yet to come, with levels potentially peaking on Sunday after what may be a temporary fall later today.

"I think we have got more water on the way," he said.

"There is a lot of rain forecast for the Welsh hills."

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