A Co Tyrone village has seen a mammoth clean up operation underway on Monday after weekend flooding saw sports grounds in the area submerged in water.
The Drumquin area bore the brunt of flash flooding in West Tyrone on Saturday and Sunday after heavy rainfall affected many parts of the county.
Activity was halted at Drumquin GAA and Drumquin United FC due to the flooding, while pictures and footage show the rainwater rising several feet on the pitches. A nearby river burst its banks due to the heavy rain.
READ MORE: Met Office forecasts thunderstorms for Northern Ireland
The local GAA club chairman Paul McCusker told MyTyrone the cleanup operation was underway on Monday, but says flooding in the area is something which has become more of a common occurrence in recent years.
“It’s a huge mess to clean up,” Paul said.
“Whatever debris and muck that was in the river just washed up through the facilities. We have a community walkway on the grounds and they’ll be closed until we get everything cleared up.
“We have a team of volunteers working on it at the minute and we hope to have it back open later in the week.
“Thankfully the water didn’t go high enough to get into the clubrooms but that is the fear if it happens again.
“This used to happen maybe once every ten years but just lately seems to be an annual occurrence that our facilities get flooded.”
The club was thankful to neighbouring clubs who were able to help rearrange fixtures and local volunteers who were at the ground at first light on Monday morning.
Paul added the club had just completed a £350,000 investment in the grounds last year.
“It’s frustrating because we’ve just finished an investment of £350,000 in the club grounds and a new training pitch.
“To have to go out and clean that all is up is disappointing, but we’re lucky there has been no long term damage done.
“The fear would be for the clubrooms if the water gets in there at any point. It did happen during Storm Desmond a few years ago and we had to replace the floors.
“It’s unfortunate that it seems to be happening more and more regularly.”
More rain and thunderstorms are set to hit Northern Ireland again this week, with the Met Office issuing a weather warning on Monday.
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