Landslides in the aftermath of devastating Storm Dennis and further spells of heavy rain have stoked fears of an Aberfan-style disaster in Wales.
Emergency inspections were being carried out at more than 20 old coal tips across the Welsh Valleys after days of heavy rain caused severe flooding and unstable ground.
One of the latest landslips forced Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council to evacuate its offices at Clydach Vale on Thursday morning.
Heavy rain at the weekend caused thousands of tonnes of coal to fall during a huge landslide at an old tip in Tylorstown in the Rhondda Valley.
The site in Tylorstown is ten miles from Aberfan, the village where 116 children and 28 adults were killed when a coal tip gave way in October 1966.
In that disaster, an estimated 150,000 tonnes of liquefied slurry hurtled down a mountain and slammed into Pantglas Junior School and houses with an almighty force.
The Queen and Prince Philip visited Aberfan in the wake of the disaster, a moment recreated in a recent episode of the Netflix series The Crown.
Ben Curtis, a local mining historian, told the Guardian that the Tylorstown incident “evokes memories” of Aberfan.
He said: “The Aberfan disaster was such an unspeakably horrific thing that cast a deep shadow over popular memory in the area."
Former miner Cliff Durham, who witnessed the Tylorstown landslide on Sunday, said: “As soon as I saw this, I thought of Aberfan straight away. Believe me, you don’t want to see that again.
“There’s tonnes and tonnes of coal still around. The authorities should drill it so the water could go down but they can’t leave it like that. They’ve got to take it away because it could come again.”
The Coal Authority said inspections were being carried out and no major issues had been reported at any sites.
On Thursday, about 200 staff members were affected as Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council evacuated its offices at Clydach Vale.
The council tweeted: "Minor landslide in #ClydachVale - we have relocated staff to other offices on site at our Council headquarters at Clydach Vale, purely as a precaution. Engineers are due to ascertain the situation and a further update will follow later today."
Wales has pledged up to £10million in emergency funding for those affected by the recent flooding.
More heavy rain is in the forecast in the days ahead, triggering fears of further flooding and landslips.
The Met Office had issued a yellow warning for rain for parts of Wales and the North West of England.
In Wales, there was a flood warning for Lower Dee Valley from Llangollen to Trevalyn Meadows, and 11 alerts elsewhere.
The Environment Agency had issued six severe flood warnings, 95 flood warnings and 154 alerts for England.
There were eight warnings and 11 alerts for Scotland.
