Northern Ireland

Resident an ‘emotional wreck' after three floods in 10 days

Martin Sloan outside his Annsborough home 
Martin Sloan outside his Annsborough home  Martin Sloan outside his Annsborough home 

A CO Down man has said he has been left "an emotional wreck" after experiencing severe flooding three times in the past 10 days.

Martin Sloan said it was only the quick action of firefighters that saved his and his neighbours' homes in Annsborough.

Mr Sloan said the row of bungalows at Annsborough Park, on the Castlewellan to Downpatrick Road, were first flooded on December 29 following heavy rainfall, before being hit again on January 4.

Water again started flowing towards the properties at around 2am on Thursday, getting to within six inches of the front doors.

With six inches of water outside the front gates, Mr Sloan said firefighters from Newcastle used pumping units to prevent the ground floors being flooded.

"We had this problem in 2008 and we lost our homes," he said.

"To be quite honest... we are just an emotional wreck.

"We just feel let down by all the authorities. We are tired. We are afraid to leave the house.

"The water is backing up from the drains somewhere. We have phoned all the authorities but there has been no action.

"The Fire Service are our heroes."

SDLP assembly member Sean Rogers said the residents are "living in absolute fear and this is not acceptable".

"I have spoken with a number of agencies who are saying the problem is simply the water table and no agency is wishing to accept responsibility," he said.

"This isn’t good enough. This flooding is taking place outside of the curtilage of these properties so some agency has to be responsible."