Kiyan Freedom was in a field with his flock earlier when water began rising from a nearby river
Flooding hits land near Pontyates in Carmarthenshire last week, leaving hundreds of sheep stranded
A farming couple have been left heartbroken after a sudden flood resulted in the loss of hundreds of their sheep. The number of recovered carcasses currently stands at 272 with the count expected to rise as more are discovered.
Kiyan Freedom and his wife Tetiana, who are new to farming, started building their flock on rented land in April this year. Kiyan was tending to his flock on the morning of Thursday, September 4, when he noticed the water level of a nearby river rapidly rising around him, soon reaching waist height.
In an attempt to save his livestock he began diving underwater to rescue the struggling ewes and lambs. “In places the water was three metres (10ft) deep,” he said. “With our bare hands we began rescuing the animals one by one.” Stay informed on Carms news by signing up to our newsletter here.
Kiyan, a former international criminal barrister who fled Iran fearing for his life, met and married fellow refugee Tetiana from Ukraine in the UK. The couple settled in Gowerton, near Swansea, reports NorthWalesLive.
After being diagnosed with lung cancer two years ago Kiyan had to put his legal career on hold. Renting land to establish a sheep flock was part of the couple’s plan to aid his recovery.
The couple purchased 600 ewes and lambs from local markets and stocked a shed with feed and hay in the village of Pontyates, near Llanelli. Their rented land is traversed by the Afon Gwendraeth Fawr river.
On Thursday morning at 10.30am Kiyan had collected sheep feed for his field. “It was raining the night before – three or four hours of heavy rain,” he said. “But the river was low. Then I hear a loud noise like a whooshing. I saw the water coming – it was destroying everything.”
A local landowner helped recover Kiyan’s drowned sheep in his tractor’s bucket loader
Kiyan continued: “I had no time to think. In two minutes the water was coming up to my belly. It was a massive flood. Water rushed into our fields. It was coming from everywhere. I didn’t know why it was happening. Neighbours who lived here all their lives said they had never seen like it before.
“I started diving under the water to save the sheep and the lambs. But it was too much – the flooding was going on for two or three miles.”
In desperation he appealed for assistance from agricultural organisations and the emergency services. Ringing 999 he begged the fire brigade to attend.
Two friends from Swansea turned up and started lending a hand and locals pitched in too. They brought a tractor and a JCB excavator and started lifting drowned and surviving sheep using the bucket attachments.
“It was so deep,” said Kiyan. “The water was too high for the tractor – my neighbour was on the roof. I went in my Mitsubishi Shogun 4×4 and he jumped onto the roof. But my car is now destroyed.”
Some sheep made it to higher ground but others didn’t
Among those assisting was landowner Bob Stratford who leases the fields to the pair. He alleged that insufficient river maintenance had worsened a torrent of water triggered by torrential rainfall.
This week the Met Office issued a yellow warning for rain covering south Wales on Wednesday evening followed by a yellow alert for thunderstorms in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Mr Stratford said: “River levels rise extremely quickly and then recede quickly too. I tried to warn Kiyan on Thursday morning but the water rose so rapidly he couldn’t get his sheep to safety.
“Unfortunately he’d fenced off the river to stop the sheep getting to it. When the waters rose the sheep were driven against the fencing and the combined weight cause it to collapse. I’ll now be getting as many farmers as possible to a meeting to discuss what can be done to get the river dredged.”
Kiyan wrecked his Mitsubishi Shogun trying to rescue his sheep
The mission to transport sheep to higher ground carried on beyond 7pm at which point the floodwaters had begun to retreat. Bodies were gathered in clusters while Kiyan and Tetiana did everything they could to tend to those that had survived.
“Some are in bad condition,” he said. “I rescued one from the water but it died last night. The local farmers are finding more sheep bodies and bringing them here. We have 272 dead sheep and lambs up to now. We counted the survivors but some are in a bad way.
“I have asked for help from the authorities but we are getting so little. The fire service came in the end but now we are all on out own. I don’t know what to do.
“All of the lamb cake feed has gone. All the hay has gone. We need this for the winter. All the fencing around the field was destroyed by the floodwater. Our farm car is gone.”
Livestock that perish on farms must be collected for disposal purposes. Burying them on the land is against the law. However Kiyan said he may have little choice.
“We have so many dead bodies,” he said. “The knacker people said it will be £20 per head. When I told them what happened. They said: ‘Okay, £15’. But that will still be £4,000 to £5,000. We also need medicines for the sheep. Where are we getting the money for this? I have no idea.”
On Saturday two local farmers returned to help collect all the carcasses ready for disposal – they’re a mix of Welsh, Texel, and Easycare.
“We we very happy to see them,” said Kiyan. “But we still need advice and help for this kind of situation.”