Wrexham Storm Aftermath

Last night the region was battered by severe winds and rain, causing significant damage to houses and leaving many homes without power.

Road Closures Update: Our Streetscene team have made good progress with clearing roads of fallen trees and debris. The only current road closure in place is at Rhosnesni Lane.

Roads are being cleared as quickly as possible and members of the public are encouraged to report any fallen trees or debris by calling 01978 298 989.

Power cuts: Areas of Wrexham are still without power. The main areas are Glyn Ceiriog, Trevor, Erbistock and Penycae. Emergency Planning are in regular dialogue with Scottish Power regarding the issue. Work is also continuing with our multi-agency partners to ensure that our communities are safe.

Leisure Centres: The gym at Chirk Leisure Centre is now open and the pool is set to be reopened to the public at 3.30pm. Queensway Sports Centre has two large trees down, one of which has brought down the pallisade fencing and pulled up the water supply to the stand. The main facility is open and unaffected.

Schools: With the exception of Grango School, the school closures are due to loss of power. Grango school has suffered quite extensive damage to the roof with large numbers of slates and ridge tiles missing. It is highly unlikely that the whole school will be open tomorrow but sections will be available to allow exams to take place. We envisage that the school will be open on Monday.

Acrefair school has had the whole of the roof covering stripped from one area of the school bus area,  the area  is safe and the school remains open. Again contractors are on site. St Christophers school has some damage to the cladding on the gym. Again the school is open and contractors are on site to make good.

Alexandra School has had a Photovolotaic Panel blown off and some roof damage. This has been made good and the school is open. St Annes school in Wrexham has had a dozen or so polycarbonate canopy panels blown off.  The school is open and work is in hand.

Darland has suffered damage to hanging tiles and minor roof damage.  The school is open and contractors are on site making good. Bryn Alyn has had a number of roof leaks and a number of polycarbonate panels have blown out of the covered walkway. The school is open.

Holt School has a tree down in the grounds but the school is unaffected. Work is continuing with our multi-agency partners to ensure that our communities are safe.

VIDEO: Ben Jones has kindly uploaded and sent us the following video from last night, showing the ferocity of the weather and damage in town:

Morning Update: This morning the weather is a lot calmer and there’s even a bizarre orange object in the sky, which we believe is an urban myth referred to as ‘The Sun’.

Many houses across Wrexham this morning remain without power, with people contacting us to say Ruabon still has no electricity.

Some schools across Wrexham have closed for the day and people are advised to check travel arrangements / transport services before setting off on their journey today. You can read our full updates on our live blog from last night.

Below are some of the photos we have been sent from Wrexhamites of the storm damage. You can send your photos to [email protected]

A fallen tree on Rhosnesni Lane closed the road last night. The road this morning remained closed off, with some pictures of the incident below:

Mold Road was closed off last night after the wind caused caused two panels to blow off the Racecourse roof. The road has now reopened, but is down to two lanes.

A spokesperson for Glyndwr University said: “Contractors are currently working on the GU Racecourse roof. Two panels of the roof blew down and there was some debris on the road. Weather permitting they’ll have the area fixed as soon as possible.”

North Wales Fire and Rescue Service reports that it received over 240 calls to its control room between 2pm yesterday (12 February) and 7am this morning (13 February). Normally it would have expected to have dealt with a fraction of this number.

Of the calls received, resources were deployed to 70 incidents and information from a further 62 of the calls was transferred to other agencies for attention.

We have also been sent a transport update regarding GHA Coaches and their schedules today:

Many routes are affected by last nights storms this morning as a result of road closures due to fallen trees.
We are still trying to see what routes are affected and awaiting driver feedback on problems.
Know problems are:
Most Wrexham Local Services operating normally
X50 Ruthin – Wrexham is operating non stop via Mold
X52 Denbigh – Rhyl Normal service
146 Wrexham – Whitchurch Normal route
X94 Wrexham – Barmouth
Not currently serving Cynwyd, Llandrillo, Llandderfel
due to fallen trees
5, X5 Wrexham – Llangollen – Corwen – Ruthin normal route with delays

Around the town there is clear damage to people’s properties, particularly it would seem to roof tiles and fence panels. However Ian has been in touch to say his Pergoda has remained intact.

Update midday: Some more pictures from in and around town of the trees down and damage caused

We have just been to the industrial estate. All clear and the HGV that turned over by Five Fords is now being recovered.

— Wrexham.com (@wrexham) February 13, 2014

We’ve also been around Smithy Lane / Little Acton. Few branches and bins blown over. And a bus sign hanging on for dear life.

— Wrexham.com (@wrexham) February 13, 2014

Joanne Ellis sent us these photos of a tree that fell down just before 7pm on Coopers Close last night. Joanne said the ‘Council came out within an hour and worked so fast, they need lots of praise. Well done to all involved.”

Mold Road has now been reopened after last nights incident. Anna Marie Brown, Glyndwr University Racecourse Stadium manager, said: “Emergency repairs were undertaken this morning to make the stadium and areas around the Mold Road stand safe.

“The university is awaiting a report from contractors who inspected the roof, after which a decision will be made by the stadium’s safety officer and senior university safety, health and environment staff on whether the stadium is safe to open to the public.

“We are hopeful that the issue with the roof will not jeopardise Sunday’s North Wales Crusaders rugby league fixture. The major concern for this will be the condition of the pitch, following torrential rain and snow in the last five days and more bad weather forecast for the weekend.

“Glyndwr University will ensure all supporters and members of the public are kept updated regarding the stadium and Sunday’s game through social media, the university website and local media.”

A statement released by North Wales Police states that over a 24 hour period, staff and officers in the forces control room dealt with 1865 non-emergency calls and a total of 714 emergency ‘999’ calls.

“We would like to thank everyone for their patience and co-operation yesterday,” said Call Centre Manager Paul Shea. “With the extreme weather conditions, we experienced a significant increase in calls made into the force’s call centre. The peak period proved to be between 5pm and 6pm when 230 emergency ‘999’ calls were made to North Wales Police.

He added: “Although we are unable to distinguish how many of those calls were weather related, we can however say that the number of ‘999’ calls made was far higher than those received on New Year’s Eve. Furthermore, non-emergency calls were around 50% higher than a normal Wednesday for this time of year.”

The weather situation across North Wales had improved significantly this morning however North Wales Police are still advising motorists to check with Traffic Wales for latest information on the roads.