14/02/2014 BBC Wales Today

Devon, the storm brought 40 millimetres of rain

Good evening. The storm has claimed the life of an elderly man. Bob

Thomas was 77. He died after being hit by a falling tree in his garden

near Caernarfon. Tonight the Met Office has issued a yellow "be

aware" warning for heavy rain and wind overnight and into tomorrow,

and more than 5,000 people are still without power. Roger Pinney reports.

And all it goes, more high winds, rain and snow and news about death

caused by Wednesday's storm. 77-year-old Bob Thomas was hurt when

a tree fell on him in the garden of his home in Caeathro. He died in

hospital where he was being treated for head injuries. It is very sad

that at the height of the storm on Wednesday, he was thinking of his

animals and making sure the chickens were safe. By comparison, the

problems other of us face pale away but they are problems nonetheless.

We caught up with a crew of power workers, and trying to reconnect

communities. This team has been working virtually around the clock,

finishing at 1am and starting again at 7am. Already the latest storm is

starting to set in. Who knows what problems the new storm will bring?

The work isn't easy and seems never-ending. The weather has been

horrendous. It is the worst I've ever known it and the conditions are

awful. We have been working 18 hour days and are doing our best to get

customers back on. Some hasty repairs to a roof elsewhere and at

the fire station they have a generator, but most are having to

manage without any power. In the village shop they are using a gas

lamp and torches. The freezers are having to remain closed. We have got

a call fire. And I have just bought a gas fire for the kitchen. I

sympathise with the elderly in the village because they have no gas or

electric at all and without that, they can't cook their food. And it

is concerned for an elderly neighbour which is bringing this

woman out with an urn of hot water for tea and coffee. Hello, Mary, I

have got some hot water to you. Yesterday she had no heating and was

snuggled up on the chair, covered in blankets. It was 12 degrees in her

house yesterday. It was absolutely freezing. The electricity here went

on Wednesday and more of it lost power in today's storm. And so, the

bad weather continues. This is the River Wye at Monmouth. Surely some

respite must be due. A review into storm damage in January and December

has found that less than 1% of properties here actually flooded.

But the report doesn't cover the storms we've had over the last two

weeks. Natural Resources Wales says most defences held - but repair work

is now needed at many of them. The defences did stop the worst of the

worst of the weather and pat them on properties and people but 175

defences were damaged and need to be repaired. If we look to the future,

with the impact of climate change, we can expect more of the severe

weather happening again. There could have been 50,000 properties

affected. In reality, there were not. The impact is that we have been

able to invest and we will continue to invest in protection and defences

that will secure the future of our communities. Carmarthenshire

council's chief executive has stepped down while police

investigate payments to him, which the Wales Audit Office describe as

unlawful. Mark James recived cash payments instead of employer pension

contributions when he opted out of the staff scheme. Mr James says it's

right that he leaves office while police conclude their inquiries, but

says he hasn't done anything wrong. Pembrokeshire Council held a meeting

earlier to discuss a similar issue, involving its chief executive Bryn

Parry Jones, who remains in post. The leader of the Welsh

Conservatives faces a growing crisis over his leadership tonight. The

party's board have been holding emergency talks to discuss the

controversial sacking of four Tory Assembly Members. They were removed

from the front bench by Andrew RT Davies. It's understood a conference

call was arranged to allow members to express "concern and anger" at Mr

Davies' actions. Parents of pupils at a secondary school in Cardiff are

consulting solicitors after children were allegedly secretly filmed at a

toilet in their school. It follows guilty pleas to voyeurism by the

deputy headteacher at Ysgol Glantaf last month, involving a hidden

camera at another location. Further investigations led detectives to the

school. That's now prompted some parents to seek legal advice. Nick

Palit reports. On 31st of January, 47-year-old Gareth Williams of the

other car the magistrates court on three charges of 4 euros, involving

a camera hidden in a toilet. Police recovered the camera and memory

sticks with files of five children. The Welsh-medium deputy head pleaded

guilty to recording to another person without their consent, for

the purpose of sexual gratification. But those charges did not relate to

any offences at the school where he taught. Since then, Police have

widened their investigation to include Ysgol Glantaf. Sources have

told BBC Wales that teachers, parents and pupils have been spoken

to by police about alleged secret filming at the school. Now some

worried parents have been seeking legal advice. If it is found that

children have been filmed on school premises in the toilets, then there

was undoubtedly a claim for the children by their parents. There is

a breach of privacy. And the nature of the breach is obviously extremely

serious. Last week the headteacher wrote to parents of the 1000 500

pupils to tell them that police officer been given full access to

the school to carry out their investigations He also acknowledged

that the situation was extremely concerning for everyone involved

with the school. Meanwhile Mr Williams has been suspended from his

post here and is due to appear before Cardiff Crown Court on the

21st of this month for sentencing. It's been described as the largest

fire on Borth Peat Bog for more than 20 years. Fire crews spent hours

trying to control the flames, which were burning close to the village

near Aberystwyth. Now the fire is out, investigators are looking for

the cause. A lorry driver has been fined more than ?300 with nine

points on his licence after his truck overturned on the Britannia

Bridge linking Anglesey with the mainland, at the height of

Wednesday's storm. The bridge was closed to lorries at the time.

Magistrates heard that Slovakian Igor Kolarik hit a van, causing 17

hours of delays. The weather's been disrupting the weekend's rugby.

Tonight's Pro 12 match between the Dragons and Leinster went ahead in

Dublin. Despite a heroic battle, the Welsh side lost 31-19. The Scarlets

game against Ulster was called off because of a water-logged pitch in

Belfast. Let's get the weekend weather forecast now. Here's Sue

Charles. It has been a wet and wintry Valentine's Day and that

warning for heavy rain remains in place. Not as severe as Wednesday,

but gusts of 73 miles an hour at the Mumbles. We have a latest area of

low pressure, the third in the week, moving east across the UK. That rain

easing overnight as the font clears, but remaining windy. Reaching gale

force a long exposed coasts. Temperatures falling to between 5-7

Celsius. Tomorrow, blustery showers on and off through the morning,

wintry in the hills, and a similar story across the UK. Showers falling

as low above 300 metres. The wind becoming cold as it becomes

north-westerly. Temperatures in the north-east of Scotland six Celsius,

and then in the south of England. Windy end to day across Wales, but

again, feeling chilly. We have a brief ridge of high pressure

building on Saturday into Sunday, so Sunday is settled before this next

front arrives. If Rusty, dry start, but clouding over from the West

later on. -- a frosty Dysart -- dry start. Improving into Monday itself,

and next week, it looks like the jet, which has been pushing storms

across the Atlantic, starts to move northwards, so it should settle down

and be less windy, with some longer dry spells as well. Thank goodness

for that. That's Wales Today. Thank you for watching. Have a great

weekend. From all of us on the programme, goodnight.