Caring pastor provided shelter for families during recent storm

A CARING Dungannon minister provided shelter to four families hastily evacuated from their homes during the recent stormy weather, a meeting of Mid Ulster District Council has heard.

At the latest monthly gathering of the local authority, Cllr Clement Cuthbertson paid tribute to the kindness displayed by Light and Life Christian Centre church pastor, Sheila Johnson.

Due to the stormy weather conditions, a tree had fallen on one of the houses in question, and the stricken families had to be evacuated by the NI Fire and Rescue Service due to safety concerns.

Cllr Cuthbertson said, “I got a phone call at 11.15pm from the NI Ireland Fire and Rescue Service, where they had to evacuate four families out of their houses at the drop of a hat.

“I spoke to the pastor of the church who doesn’t live in Dungannon, but jumped in a car and travelled to Dungannon, and opened up the church building for the families to stay in that night.

“So I just want to pay tribute to the church, and those involved in coming to the aid of those four families.”

The Dungannon representative also wished to acknowledge the dedication of NIE staff and tree surgeons who worked in extremely hazardous conditions that night.

“I want just to pay tribute to the staff of NIE, and also there’s a number of tree surgeons based in Mid Ulster and around the Dungannon area who went out and were taking their life in their own hands because it was very dangerous. Any normal people, we shouldn’t expect them to go out, but when our electric goes off we expect them to go out straight away, so I want to pay tribute to them.”