FLOOD victims living in emergency accommodation in Ruthin claim Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water is causing stress by failing to communicate with them.

Last week a burst water main in Llanrhydd caused devastating flooding to 13 apartments at Bathafarn Hall, forcing tenants to move out and be put up in emergency accommodation.

This week a number of residents contacted the Free Press to tell us that feared they were about to be made homeless after their accommodation provider - Lyons Woodlands Hall - said the funding for the accommodation was coming to an end.

This was seemingly confirmed in an email from claims management firm Crawco, dated October 15, which told residents that their emergency housing would be extended for two weeks - taking them up to October 29.

The email also said: "I must advise that you will be responsible for sourcing your own accommodation moving forward. I suggest you begin looking for alternative rental properties as soon as possible."

Dilwyn Williams said after reading that letter he feared he would have to live in his car with his Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

"This is totally unacceptable," he said. "We have been forced out through no fault of our own. Now they are telling us that we need to get ourselves a new place to live in the space of a week or two, it's impossible.

"I've been in touch with the homelessness prevention team at the council, I've been looking at what is available and there are no properties close to the price range we were paying at Bathafarn Hall. It's going to take a long time to find somewhere new to live. 

"And we will need to find new homes. We are hearing from the landlord that to sort out the damage will take between nine and 12 months.

"This is the second time I have experienced flooding due to a burst water main living at that property. It happened five years ago but the damage was not as severe.

"But Welsh Water have clearly have not learned their lesson."

Read more:

Tenants forced out as burst water main floods apartments in Llanrhydd

Dilwyn also said the flood had affected his mental health.

"I have PTSD and other mental health problems," he said. "I was in a care homes in Wrexham in the 80s and stability is important to me. 

"This situation is really having an effect on my health."

Patrick Dunbar, the first resident to come forward and speak about the flooding, said Dŵr Cymru needed to step up.

"We all had these letters and there are people panicking," he said. "People with families who feel uncertain whether they will have a roof over their head in a few days. People who have lost everything and are now stuck in the system trying to get anything at all back from insurers - a process that will take months.

"None of the residents are responsible for this. But when I've tried to get through to Dŵr Cymru getting hold of anyone is difficult. Then we start getting emails which seem to give us deadlines of a few days to get out. It's not fair and it's not right.

"They need to be more active in communicating with us and they need to act faster to help people to move on."

Dŵr Cymru has confirmed that it is extending the emergency accommodation provision until November 1. It will also review it before then and let residents know if emergency support will be extended further.

"We are continuing to support the customers who were affected by the incident and are providing them with alternative accommodation," said a spokesperson for Dŵr Cymru.

"We would like to apologise for all the disruption caused."