The owner of a live music venue and rehearsal rooms whose business has been devastated due to the floods is fearing further flooding in the coming days.

Waking up to messages from musicians on Sunday morning asking him if everything was okay, Jonny Foxhall - the owner of The Green Rooms in Treforest's initial response was to say "yeah, no problem".

However, living in Cwmparc at the head of the Rhondda, the 32-year-old wasn't initially aware that the Taff had flooded at Upper Boat causing flooding misery for businesses on Treforest Industrial Estate, including his.

Water had got in and destroyed much of the equipment and ruined the facilities inside.

Damage from flooding at The Green Rooms
The surface at Green Rooms is now covered in sludge

What makes it doubly frustrating for the business, which is at the heart of the grassroots music community in the valleys and south Wales, is that work had only recently finished renovating the building.

“I first became aware there could be problems around 8am on Sunday morning when bands were messaging our Facebook page asking if everything was going to be alright,” said Jonny.

“I live up at the top of the Rhondda in Cwmparc, so it's less affected up there, so I was replying, 'yeah it should be fine'. When I looked at the weather, I thought 'oh god, we could be in trouble'.

“I spoke to our neighbours on the industrial estate. One of them has their CCTV hooked up to their phone. They told me that at about 5.30am on the Sunday the estate was under four feet of water.

“I came down at around 10am on Sunday morning to see if we could salvage anything. I filmed it all on Facebook Live to let people see the damage that had been caused.”

The bar area has been badly hit by flood water
The Green Rooms faces an extensive clean up operation

When he opened the door of the The Green Rooms he was met with the sight of utter devastation.

“Our live PA system, all of our amplifiers, drum kits, equipment, stock, all facilities were wrecked, our newly built stage which has been destroyed by the flood and many other items and even personal effects have all been damaged by the flood.

“The entire place is caked in a sludgy mess and water damage has raised up the wooden floorboards and gotten into the electrics. We daren't try and turn anything on for fear of blowing the place up. It's going to be a big job to clean up.”

Thick sludge left on the floor
The venue and rehearsal rooms has been turned upside down

As for insurance, it looks unlikely the business will be successful in being able to claim.

“We're in the same boat as a lot of other businesses down here because this area was flooded before back in the '70s insurers don't put flooding in their policies,” said Jonny. “We are trying to go the way of storm damage, but it's looking unlikely.”

Now the business, which has been up and running since 2009, but which was only taken over by Jonny in 2018, has set up a Go Fund Me appeal to help raise money to resurrect the business. You can donate to the fundraiser here.

In addition, fundraising shows at Jac's in Aberdare, Globetrotters Bar in Pontypridd, The Moon in Cardiff and The Bunkhouse in Swansea have been organised to raise money for The Green Rooms and Clwb Y Bont in Pontypridd, another valleys live music hub, which was also severely damaged by the floods.

“We're using the fund to help repair and replace all damaged items and the contents of the building itself,” said Jonny. “All and any help will be greatly appreciated.”

For the immediate future the business owner is fearful of repeated downpours and the potential for further flooding.

“I've been keeping an eye on the river level meter station on Upper Boat bridge and it's gone up again,” he said. “So we're packing the building with sandbags and plastic sheeting to try and minimise damage just in case there is more flooding. If it does overflow at least we'll be better protected this time.”