Pictures show scale of damage to car garage caused by Storm Bert as owner left 'devastated'

A car garage owner has been left devastated after Storm Bert caused major damage to the property. Around 20 cars were badly damaged as flood water poured into the Scorpion Automotive Solutions site on Berw Road, Pontypridd on Sunday.

Owner Gareth Davies says he cannot even begin the clear-up process due to the amount of oil that spilled during the flood, which he fears could pollute local rivers if he began to try and clear the site. Gareth, 34, set up his own business two years ago and has been based at Berw Road for the last year and a half.

He said his business had finally got to a point where he was happy with it, and he was able to spend money on his children’s Christmas presents without any worry. He was even getting ready to expand and move out of the premises when the devastating floods hit.

Gareth checked his security cameras early Sunday morning and saw that water had already started to enter the garage so rushed down from his home in Tonypandy. He said: “When I first got here, the water was up to my calf so we managed to get some of the electrical stuff out and lift one of the cars up on the ramp.

"But, there’s stuff that I didn't think about that will be found wrecked when we are finally able to clean.” Gareth’s garage is now covered in 300 litres of oil that spilled during the flood, ruining the office space that had only been decorated with new furniture and flooring last week. He was also unable to save about twenty cars, many of which belong to his customers and will likely have to be written off.

Videos from the flooding show that water was above the door handles on most cars and was even strong enough to move some vehicles. One of Gareth’s customers had boots in the back of their car, which he saw being washed away as around 5ft of water flooded the property. For the latest Pontypridd news, sign up to our newsletter here

He said: “There was nothing we could do but stand there and watch. It was too dangerous. The speed the water was coming through you couldn’t walk through it, we just had to wait for it to go down.

“I can’t apologise to my customers enough, but it was out of my control. I’ll do what I can to help people out and fix their cars, but I think the majority will be written off. I pride myself on customers leaving me with their cars in a better state than they came in, they don’t expect to have to be pushing it out.

“It is gutting that I’ve lost a lot of money but I will hopefully be able to replace stuff and clean up a lot of my tools. I feel more devastated about my customers’ vehicles than I do for myself. I’ll carry on fixing cars like I have been.”

Gareth and his wife are also frustrated by what they see as a lack of support they have received from relevant bodies. They are awaiting further advice from Natural Resources Wales before they are able to start cleaning up, due to the amount of oil they fear could end up in rivers if washed away. Natural Resources Wales have been contacted for comment.

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