Prolonged and torrential rain on Saturday afternoon resulted in Gortcille Housing Development in Cladymore filling up with 5/6inches of water with a number of houses at immediate risk of flooding.
Cllr Haughey explained the scenes of panic in Cladymore, “On Saturday afternoon I received a number of calls from residents absolutely desperate for help as rainwater started to fill up in Gortcille Housing Development. Residents were fighting back the water from coming in to their homes.
“I was amazed by the scene as I’ve never seen flooding like this in Cladymore before. Thankfully the local Fire Service came to the aid of residents and saved many homes from coming saturated in water as they pumped the water out of the Housing Development and into a nearby shuck.
“I made a number of frantic calls to Road Service and the flooding incident line for immediate assistance and delivery of sand bags. However it took considerable time for Road Service and Rivers Agency to make it out to the area with the sandbags and had it not been for the actions of the Fire Service then a number of homes would have been ruined by this flooding.
“I also wish to commend the efforts of local people who all worked together to get the water away and to keep water coming in to individual properties. Community spirit really shone through as everyone worked together. I would also like to thank the farmers who made meal bags available.
“However this incident was very traumatic for residents and they are fearful that further rain could cause serious damage. A number of concerns have been raised with me which I will be raising with the various authorities. There have been questions around the drainage at the back of Gortcille, which was completely ineffective on Saturday and I will raise that through Environmental Health and Building control. The road drainage was also completely ineffective and I will be raising that with Road Service. The shuck across the road from Gortcille was well fit to take the water away towards the local river and the road drainage system should direct water towards this direction to take risk away from the housing development.
“In Mourneview Park at the bus stop residents had to dig away to get access to gullies to attempt to re-direct the water so I will be asking road service to clear out all gullies and to clear around them so that they can be of some use during heavy rain.
“The Cladymore road is a downwards slope which settles at Gortcille and a small ramp at the entrance of Gortcille would also be effective as a defence to keep water from lying in the area.
“These are just a few of suggestions that I will be making to the various authorities so that residents in Gortcille can rest a bit easier.
“I thank Road Service for the sand bags which they delivered to the area and these will be retained in the area in case there is any further problems. This means residents will be able to access flood defences more quickly.”
“I think I speak for everyone in Gortcille by saying a huge thank you to the local fire service who on this occasion really saved the day!”