Residents in areas affected by heavy flooding in Strabane at the weekend have issued a plea for help as their homes have been severely damaged.
Several areas of the Co Tyrone town were impacted by heavy rain on Saturday and Sunday, with some homes suffering significant damage for the fourth time in four years.
Homes in the Ballycolman estate in the town were badly affected on two occasions last year, and were hit hard once again at the weekend.
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One of the estate’s residents said she and her neighbours were living in fear and described the situation as ‘soul destroying.’
“I was in Derry for the day and I got a couple of calls from my neighbours to say the street was beginning to flood. By the time I came home, my house was destroyed,” Emma told MyTyrone.
“My whole downstairs is destroyed. Floors, kitchen units, furniture, carpets on the stairs, there was seven inches of filthy sewer water running through the house.
“It’s just soul-destroying, I have done this all before. I have been to every meeting, I was very grateful for the meetings but we have promised and been told and hoped for solutions, but two years down the line I’m sitting in a stinking house on a Monday morning.
“Who’s here to help me? All those people who said they were going to help, they’re not here with me now. I’m in disbelief that I’m here again.
“People are in emotional turmoil over this, the water was just rising and rising and there was nothing anybody could do to stop it.
“We’re a very close-knit community and we’ve all been out on the street helping each other, But there’s just a feeling this time of sheer and utter disbelief. We are all so proud of our homes and for it just to be ripped apart in minutes is soul destroying.”
The Department for Communities has said that it would be providing emergency grants of up to £1,000 for those whose homes have been affected by the flooding. Last autumn, then Infrastructure minister Nichola Mallon had said her Department would commit £500,000 to providing short-term and long-term solutions to the flooding problems in the area.
Ivan Barr from the Melmount Community Forum and other volunteers were involved in local efforts to help residents in Ballycolman and other areas of the town during the flooding. He says it is time for action as local residents say they cannot go on living with the anxiety of having their homes flooded. He says the £1,000 payment doesn’t go far enough.
“The cleanup is underway but where you can clean a house, the bigger concern is the residents’ anxiety. In Ballycolman alone this is the fourth time in the last few years.
“These areas are repeatedly flooding. We were catering not only for those areas but other areas around Strabane as well, it was just a horrendous situation.
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“The biggest help to us on Saturday night was the work of local residents in getting sandbags out to friends, neighbours and relatives. The town turned out in big numbers and that went on into Sunday.
“Having spoken to many of the residents, there aren’t too many of them that aren’t in tears over this. It is pure frustration and anxiety is running very very high. This is happening time and time again, despite their calls for help, the help is not coming.
“£1000 compensation means nothing when you are repetitively having to do this. The heart just goes for these people. It’s not a situation that can go on much longer.”
Derry City and Strabane District Council chair Sandra Duffy urged anyone affected by the flooding to register to be included in the £1,000 grant scheme.
“It is vitally important to note that anyone whose home is affected by the flood that they register this through the Flooding Helpline so they can be included in the scheme," Cllr Duffy said.
"I saw for myself the extent of the devastation caused by this latest flooding incident. It is heartbreaking to see family homes and businesses impacted in this way. We need to do all we can to provide the support they need to restore their homes and to put mitigation measures in place to protect them from future incidences.”
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