Flood aftermath in Strabane leaves widespread damage

AS residents frantically blocked front doors with sandbags, the raging torrents of water raced through the back doors of their homes in the latest flooding nightmare at the weekend.

Independent councillor Paul Gallagher said the damage had brought huge misery and devastation to both home and business owners in the town, who had fought to prevent the rising flood waters entering their properties.

“Totally devastated, there’s just no other words for it,” said the councillor who has spoken with many of those directly affected.

“Some of these people have just had new kitchens fitted, or new floors put down again after the last flood and then this comes along and just wrecks it all in a few minutes.

“It is really heart breaking to see such damage. And the damage is a lot more widespread this time around, there are homes in the Ballycolman, Lisnafin and other areas, while the water went in to the pubs, shops and barbers in the town centre.

“To be honest I don’t think we’ll find out the full picture of what the damage is here for a few days. It’s really bad.”

The councillor said there was a growing sense of anger and frustration, as many properties have been repeatedly flooded over recent years.

“We had the Infrastructure Minister here last year, but there’s been nothing done and that’s not good enough. In fairness, there was containers filled with sandbags and there was a big queue of traffic with people filling their car boots with the bags.

“But unfortunately it couldn’t stop the water. While they were piling up the sandbags at their front doors, the water raced around and came in the back doors.”

On Sunday, the Department for Infrastructure revealed the scale of this latest flooding crisis, with hundreds of calls received.

“DfI operational teams, who had been on a heightened state of alert in conjunction with other multi-agency partners, responded to almost 300 calls to the flooding incident line and provided assistance to affected residents/businesses throughout the night,” said a spokesperson for the Department.

“It is estimated that over 8,000 sandbags were deployed. Whilst waters levels have receded at affected locations, DfI and multi-agency partners are still in a high state of alert across all areas and we continue to prepare for a further rain warning issued for Sunday (yesterday) with pre-emptive measures ongoing including the replenishment of sandbag stocks and checking of drainage infrastructure. The Flooding Incident Line number is 0300 2000 100 for anyone to report and seek assistance if flooding occurs.”

Derry and Strabane Council have said the Emergency Payment Scheme has been made available by the Department for Communities to assist those worst affected by the floods.

This fund provides up to £1,000 to help make their home fit to live in following inspections by Council staff on homes affected. To avail of the emergency payment scheme householders must register their property through the Department’s Flood Helpline and have their property assessed by Council.