Shocking video footage shows water that's been flowing for days between houses and down a residential street. The flooding happened after torrential rain and heavy flooding hit parts of Wales but the water is not actually excess rainfall but is in fact coming from a water pipe underground.

Resident Chloe Phillips shared clips of the water that is pumping from a culvert beneath a lane between her house and the next door property. It started on Wednesday morning and is still flowing on Friday. At its worst the water was knee-high, but is has since reduced to about shin-high, with ankle-high water flowing out into the residential street. You can see the footage included in the compilation video of flooding in Wales this week above.

Chloe said a manhole in the lane which covers the culvert in Caenant Terrace in Skewen, Neath Port Talbot, is unable to cope with excess rainfall , so its lid is dislodged during heavy downpours - like many parts of Wales experienced on Wednesday - allowing water to escape from the pipe and flood the area. For the latest Neath Port Talbot news, sign up to our newsletter here

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At its worst the water was knee-high in the lane, but it's now shin-high, and around ankle high on the street it's flowing out on to
At its worst the water was knee-high in the lane, but it's now shin-high, and around ankle high on the street it's flowing out on to

It's the second time the pipe has flooded this year. Chloe said: “It happened a couple of weeks ago. We filled in a sinkhole and we paid for that to be done, but now the manhole is not coping with any amount of rain going in there at all anymore."

She added the problem worsened after a mineshaft burst in Skewen in 2021, which caused terrible flooding at the time. The 29-year-old resident, who works as a director of a carpentry firm, said she has been told the responsibility to fix the issue lies with her and her neighbour, as the manhole and culvert are situated on private land.

The council said it's the residents' responsibility to fix the issue as it's private land
The council said it's the residents' responsibility to fix the issue as it's private land

Neath Port Talbot Council confirmed to WalesOnline that they say responsibility lies with the residents: "The culvert here and the associated manhole cover is in private ownership and under land drainage law the owners have the responsibility to maintain it and ensure the conveyance of water through the pipe beneath it, and more correspondence with the owners will now likely follow."

The council said it has been developing a large scale flood alleviation scheme in the broader area of Skewen which takes Chloe's location into consideration, but added: "This does not however relieve the private owners of the land drain in relation to this particular incident from their responsibilities."

Frustrated, Chloe thinks the responsibility should lie with the council. “It’s going under people’s houses. We can’t maintain things that are under people’s houses. Nobody has informed us how we’re to maintain something that’s not actually on our land. The hole is on our neighbour’s land in between us but the pipes are going under the whole of Skewen. So how are we meant to maintain that when it’s nothing to do with us?”

She also claims the council had plans for a new drainage system but this has still not been put in place. “The pipes are the council’s problem, but they don’t seem to want to fix it. It was supposed to be redirected years ago, all the pipework underneath, but they haven’t done it, even though there were plans in place to do it. And now this is why this keeps happening," she said.

The water has been flowing out from the lane into the street for three days
The water has been flowing out from the lane into the street for three days

Asked about the impact of the flooding, Chloe said: “We’re struggling to get in and out of our house. We’ve got a generator round the back trying to pump some of the water out. But we have to park our cars up the road. We’ve got two kids and my son is terrified of the water, so I’m trying to keep them out of the house in case it does come in more.

“I just want it to be fixed. I just want to know when the rain comes my house isn’t going to flood and my kids are going to be OK. And we haven’t got any help with that. I’ve had to keep all of my sentimental stuff upstairs, just in case. I’m scared when the rain happens.”

She is concerned about the the flood worsening again over the weekend, with the Met Office forecasting that Wales will be "windy on Sunday with rain, heavy at times and winds close to gale force on coasts." She said: "It can’t cope with what’s there already. All [the council] have done is say that they’re going to help try to pump the water out, but they’re not fixing the problem that will happen every time that we get rain, basically."

The water is flowing down the residential street
The water is flowing down the residential street

A Neath Port Talbot Council spokesperson said: “As part of an emergency response to the situation in Skewen on Wednesday – when flooding was widespread across Wales - our operatives were on site all day providing sandbags to protect properties from flooding and to divert excess water back into the drains. Thankfully our efforts were successful despite the torrential rainfall and we’re pleased to say no properties suffered from internal flooding. Pumps were installed to convey water in the rear lane of Caenant Terrace back into the culvert. This, along with the reduced rainfall later on Wednesday meant flood water subsided. The pump will remain in place as more rainfall is forecast and operatives will attend the site periodically during rainfall. The culvert here and the associated manhole cover is in private ownership and under land drainage law, the owners have the responsibility to maintain it and ensure the conveyance of water through the pipe beneath it, and more correspondence with the owners will now likely follow.

"We can confirm the council has been developing a large scale flood alleviation scheme in the broader area of Skewen which takes this location into consideration. The multi-million pound scheme takes into account the flood risk of a vast area of Skewen from Caenant Terrace to the Canal next to Neath Abbey and protects hundreds of residential and commercial properties. This does not however relieve the private owners of the land drain in relation to this particular incident from their responsibilities. The wider project is now entering its final design phase although construction is not guaranteed as work is subject to continuing Welsh Government grant funding support. We will investigate and confirm the cause of the flooding this week before deciding on the appropriate course of action.”