TORRENTIAL rain caused havoc for residents, drivers and traders over the weekend.

A road was closed in Llanelly Hill after the heavy downpour caused a landslide, Rockfield Road in Monmouth was also one of the many roads closed throughout the county.

Usk Show, the town's major annual event has been cancelled along with Jazz in the Park Pontypool, continental markets and other events.

Gwent Police and its partner agencies worked together to alleviate the disruption posed by excess rain over the weekend and earlier this week.

A Gold Command Centre was set up at Gwent Police Headquarters with agencies including the five local authorities, South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, South Wales Ambulance Service, the Environment Agency and the National Public Heath Service offering specialist expertise in their respective areas. The police said their priority was the protection of life and property.

Resident weather expert Jonathan Powell said, "This weather isn't unusual for September, but the severity of this particular atlantic system didn't make itself evident until its arrival.  Whereas things will settled down for a while now, it would be foolish to think that this was a one-off.  For the remainder of September and into October, we must brace ourselves for further batterings, with strong winds and rain very much in command, a pattern which we will see repeatedly over the years to come, before we eventually get back more 'stable' autumns'  Flooding will become more commonplace over the next decade."

Eight residents from five static caravans were evacuated Sunday night as a precaution and at least eight homes along the River Wye in Monmouth were evacuated.

The Environment Agency continues to monitor the water level of the river.

Police said residents co-operated fully and went into temporary accommodation.

Western Power were also working to ensure power supplies were not interrupted.

Environment Minister Jane Davidson said most staff worked around the clock over the weekend, and they spent more than five hours clearing out flood arches on the bridge across the Wye at Monmouth. The arches had last been cleared two weeks before, and then on occasions during the summer. She praised the "sheer hard work" of those helping those affected by flooding.

Sarah Fowler, from Abergavenny, has been affected by the floods six times. A culvert near her home bursts everytime there is a heavy down pour and floods the Coach House where she lives, costing her thousands of pounds worth of damage.

She said residents feel that Monmouthshire County Council should start work on the damage as soon as possible, "On Friday night at about 11pm the water started rising and it came pouring through the Coach House. It left us with the usual moat around our house and we had to wait about two-and-a-half hours for the fire service to arrive because there were so many problems with the flooding in the area.

"It's not very good here, especially since they were supposed to be starting work on the 15th - that still does not help where the culvert is concerned because they are not going to do it first. Our new carpet was ruined and had to be ripped out. We just feel that it should be done as soon as possible, not in six months, because any repair work we do now will be a waste."

Monmouthshire County Council's Chairman, councillor Susan White, has praised the hard work of the people who worked over the weekend to deal with the floods.

Monmouthshire County Council (MCC) staff worked with police officers, Environment Agency staff, Fire and Rescue Services, and other partner agencies all weekend using the emergency procedures after it became apparent that the rain would cause disruption and threaten people's homes.

MCC officers arranged for and provided extensive sandbagging throughout the county and provisionally opened Abergavenny Leisure Centre to accommodate potential evacuees who had no alternative accommodation.  However, the numbers needing accommodation were so small that bed and breakfast accommodation was used instead and the rest centre was closed down. Staff from MCC's emergency planning, housing, social services, leisure, libraries and operations departments all had a role to play in controlling the situation. 

Councillor White said,  "Our sympathies go to the families who have been affected by the floods, it must be a very unsettling time for them.

"If anyone has concerns, they should contact their local councillor who will be very happy to answer questions and will help as much as they can. I must commend our excellent staff who worked tirelessly this weekend alongside their colleagues at the police, fire service and other agencies. They did a wonderful job of preparing residents for possible flooding, and they did their best to protect our residents and their property from danger. During the weekend, many people cancelled their personal arrangements and quickly arrived to work through the night getting sand bags out to those who needed them and giving vital information to residents who were worried how the floods would affect them. We are all tremendously grateful to staff who showed dedication and good humour in an awful situation."

Colin Berg, Chief Executive of MCC, represented the council at all 'gold' meetings at Police Headquarters. He said, "The Environment Agency provided us with excellent information throughout the weekend and we were pleased to work so well with our partner agencies."