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THE man in charge of controlling Cardiff Bay’s water level has said no-one was in danger because of the raised water levels that flooded a well-used waterfront walkway.
Roger Thorley, operations manager for the Harbour Authority, said the flooding of the boardwalk at Mermaid Quay this Sunday was caused by a combination of an unexpectedly high tide and heavy rain – and said it was always under control.
Photographs published in the Echo yesterday showed the boardwalks in Mermaid Quay totally submerged.
Mr Thorley said: “The level of water in the Bay is designed to rise when we get an increased amount of rainfall.
“This weekend the tide was about 600mm (2ft) higher than forecast and this resulted in a longer tide lock. There also an increased flow from the Taff and Ely rivers. As a result we had a higher than normal water level in the Bay.”
The boardwalks are popular with people who visit the Bay to eat and drink at weekends and have access to the Aqua Bus services – which were temporarily suspended until water levels fell.
Mr Thorley added: “The advantage of the bottom boardwalks is that they are designed so people can walk on them when the water level is low.
“But they are designed to flood when the water levels are high.
“Flood defence level is eight metres and on Sunday morning the water level reached 5.7m, so there was plenty of capacity left.
“As soon as the tide dropped we were able to let the water level back down – it was always under complete control.”
A spokeswoman for Cardiff council said staff from Mermaid Quay had let people know about the likelihood of flooding.
She added: “They put signs up and cordoned off the area. The cordon was kept up after the level had dropped in case there was any debris left by the high tide.”
Mark Bryan, manager of Cadwalader Ice Cream shop in Mermaid Quay, said it was not the first time the Bay had flooded.
He said: “This is third time this has happened in the past two years.
“We didn’t get warned about it but in fairness to the security staff of Mermaid Quay they were very proactive in getting signs up, warning people and putting a cordon up.
“The flood actually brought a lot of people out to have a look at it, which was good for us.”
Mr Bryan dismissed the need for more warning signs around the Bay, adding: “It happens so infrequently I’m not sure they need to put more warnings up.
“When you have a business next to the sea you have to expect there are going to be high tides when there’s been lots of rain.”