Here's the latest Argus column by South Wales East AM Mohammad Asghar:
IN MY capacity as regional Assembly Member for South Wales East, I recently went to Monmouth to meet with Cath Griffiths who works at Ty Price, St Thomas Community Centre in the town to find out how people have been coping after the recent floods.
I was deeply impressed by the community spirit and teamwork that residents have to help each other during this difficult time, through the power of social media.
I am especially grateful to the emergency services for their fantastic efforts to help people in those communities badly hit by the consequences of Storms Ciara and Dennis.
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These have been some of the worst floods I have seen in my lifetime, here in Wales.
The impact upon communities has been absolutely devastating and my heart goes out to everyone that has been affected.
I have spoken to many people who have been hit hard by this disaster and have offered to support in any way I can.
The way the community has come together to support each other has been phenomenal.
Those who have gone out of their way to help and support those affected, as well as the emergency services, who are the true heroes of the day.
The coming weeks and months will be a time to reflect upon these events, rebuild and ensure that in the future new safeguards and protections are put in place to prevent any recurrences.
Here in Wales, it is crucial that the Welsh Government flood risk strategy must be revised.
We need flood management professionals who specifically are here to set up proper defences for those areas in need from floods.
We must look at countries abroad such as Bangladesh which has its own flood forecasting system and even India which has flood warning professionals, Men and women working specifically for this purpose alone.
Closer to home, some of the best flood defences in the world are to be found in the low-lying coastal country of the Netherlands.
They use a mix of natural dunes, dykes, dams and storm surge barriers protect its coast.
We need to rethink how we address flooding in the future and we should not be afraid of looking to other countries to see what lessons we can learn.
- You can contact me at my office on 01633 220022 or Mohammad.asghar@assembly.wales
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