Welsh rugby club heroes work through the night as flood threatens disaster
A group of volunteers have worked through the night to save a Welsh rugby club from another flooding disaster.
Heavy rainfall throughout Sunday left the pitch at Risca RFC completely under water, sparking fears that the club's leisure centre - which houses a 3G pitch - could also become flooded.
The 3G pitch had only been re-installed earlier this month after being flooded in Storm Bert late last year and it looked as though it could happen again before the volunteers sprang into action.
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A handful of those associated with the rugby club set to work using a newly purchased pump to remove the water from the pitch and surrounding areas, pumping 10,000 litres of it back into the Ebbw River as night turned to day.
"We were there all night, on and off," club member and former chairman Colin Wilks told WalesOnline. "We got the pump up and running at about 8pm last night and literally around 9am this morning, we've switched the pump off and let the water drain off naturally.
"There were about five or six of us there throughout the night. I was down there at 2am, someone was there until 5am and then they had to go to work. Some of the older guys turned up at about 6am too."
"We got caught out during Storm Bert, the clubhouse got flooded and we lost our indoor 3G pitch. We had to rip all that out and it was only about two or three weeks ago that we finished replacing it, obviously at a substantial cost to the club," he added.
"We all thought 'here we go again', but we had bought the pump as a precaution after the last time and we put it by the leisure centre last night. If we hadn't had that pump, we would have probably lost our 3G pitch for the second time in three or four months - so it was a good investment!"
While he was thankful for the pump, however, Mr Wilks added that it was the efforts of the volunteers that ultimately "saved the day" as he praised them for working through the night to help the club.
"The volunteers are what make rugby clubs in Wales tick and in situations like this, it literally is all hands to the pump," he said.
"Of course, it's not just Risca and there are lots of other clubs who often find themselves in the same boat, and there are always lots of people working hard to do the same thing. They are the people who always save the day."
Mr Wilks, who also sits on the Welsh Rugby Union board, said he had visited other clubs in the area on Monday morning and found that, other than flooded pitches, they too had avoided substantial damage to their facilities and clubhouses. The WRU have already contacted those at Risca this morning to offer support.
