9:11am Monday 10th March 2008
Pembrokeshire is battening down the hatches today, after winds of up to 40 mph battered the county last night and high tide and strong winds caused flooding in many areas.
Although the high spring tide is now receeding the worst of the weather is predicted to hit the county this afternoon, with warnings that gusts could reach up to 80mph.
At present roads at Gellyswick, Blackbridge, Newgale, Llanstadwell, Neyland Prom, Carew millpond and Amroth are closed as a result of flooding with more possible closures anticipated.
Richard Brown, the county council's civil contingency manager said that the council had 100 people out dealing with situations caused by the weather and that the incident management centre at County Hall had been open all night.
The centre received 19 calls between midnight and 6am this morning, mainly relating to debris and trees on the road.
A light aircraft at Haverfordwest Airport was also tipped over in the high winds during the night.
Preliminary sandbagging took place over the weekend and this has proved successful, although there has still been flooding in certain properties.
In Haverfordwest the river has burst its banks, trapping a car outside the Bristol Trader
He said that since 6am there had been more calls due to flooding. In Haverfordwest the flood levels have peaked and are now receding, with the north of the county following later this morning.
Mr Brown said that the Newgale road should be open this afternoon, there is currently a JCB on site to clear debris of the roadway.
"It has been a fairly quiet night," said Mr Brown. "The level of disruption is not as great as it could have been.
Coastguards said that the winds had gusted up to 39 knots, over 40 mph in the night, with stronger winds forecast for this afternoon.
All ferries have been cancelled and most vessels have taken shelter in port with only minimal shipping in St George's Channel.
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