The news reporter has just put a warning out. It suggests that a wave could hit Swansea like it has hit other places just months ago. She said, ‘People are trying to stay calm but everyone is scared and worried, nobody knows when or how soon it will arrive and what damage it might or might not cause, but many want to be prepared.’
Scientists said that it would never happen in Britain, Swansea or Wales, and yet the impact on the terrain of the wind, and rising temperatures, has caused sea-levels to rise and now a tidal wave is about to wipe out hillside communities and the town, as well as the east side of the city. It is not known how much will remain or how much might be blown down and destroyed, or how much will just remain damaged or broken. All we know is that it could reach seventy feet high, and many buildings could be swept across the bay. Many people could drown if they don’t act fast, yet as we do not know when it will strike all we can do is pray.
A few days later breaking news has come in. The tidal wave is approaching Swansea. It has already knocked some buildings down, some houses, and it is rapidly heading towards the Grape and Olive; also up the hill towards Townhill, the water tower and far beyond the city. How far it is reaching I don’t know, but as I look across the bay I can see survivors struggling up what is left of the slope to safety. I can see twigs, overturned cars, bricks, people’s belongings, all bobbing about in the watery foam of magnificence. There is water everywhere, there is despair on some people’s faces. What will the city look like at the end of this catastrophe?
As I look out across the bay I can see Mumbles. There is very little left of the shops and the cafes and the carparks. The walls of the cliff are in ruins. The boats that were anchored there are bobbing about out in the ocean. There are children screaming and running to get out of the way of the tidal wave. It is gathering pace. What if anything can stop it in its tracks? As I reach the top of Kilvey, I pause, look back. Suddenly the moon is covered over, the sky is black, but most people have survived, at least for the time being.
