Newry flooding: Funeral home and clothing store underwater as pedestrians forced to travel in paddle boats

PEDESTRIANS in Newry were replaced by boats and floating bins on Tuesday as the canal burst its banks and left heartbroken business owners struggling to protect their premises.

Newry Town Hall and nearby businesses in the Sugar Island area were especially affected, including an undertaker whose premises was flooded.

He told the Irish News he was unable to access the building and that it would disrupt funeral services planned for this week.

“The water is already halfway up the door, so we can’t get inside to see what damage has been caused,” he said.

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“We had sandbags down but the water has gone over the top of them. I know a boy on Sugar Island with a clothing store, he had to smash a window to get in and rescue all his Christmas stock.

“It’s a bit of a disaster, it’s still raining hard and it’s high tide at noon so there’s no letup in it.”

He continued: “It’s heartbreaking to see all your business lying under water.  I have funeral services planned for later in the week, so that will be affected.

“I’ve seen pictures of people swimming in it which is a bit annoying when your business is underwater and they’re having a laugh.

“At the end of the day, buildings can be fixed and replaced. There’s an inconvenience to it but if someone was hurt or injured it would be a different story.”

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Paul MacCartan owns the MacCartan Bros clothing store on Sugar Island.

"For everyone on Sugar Island it's a disaster," he told the PA news agency.

"We came in about 11pm last night, we weren't expecting it to be anywhere like this and it's just an absolute mess over there.

"I came up this morning hoping it was going to be lower and, if anything, it was far higher."

"I've stock in there, it's my livelihood, and unfortunately the inside of the shop is just an absolute mess.

"We broke windows and got in to clear the stock that was dry and just get it upstairs.

"The other stock is just saturated. Unfortunately, I spent a lot of money there getting new flooring in the business a few weeks ago and it's all to waste.

"The insurance companies won't cover you for flood, they just don't do that in Newry. So, unfortunately, we're just going to have to see where we go from here. It's a bit of a nightmare coming into Christmas."

Peter Johnston owns The Wine Company on Canal Quay and had been looking forward to one of his busiest days of trade.

“At the moment we’re dry, but there’s more flooding coming later on and it’s already a river on Sugar Island,” he said.

“Today being Halloween, we were expecting a bumper turn but now people may not even be able to get into the area.

“I don’t want to sound selfish, but that’s another thing you don’t need when you’re trying to keep your business open.

“There wasn’t any sandbags on our street so a few of us, for want of a better word, liberated some of them as they were already underwater.

“It’s very unusual for us and we’re beside the Canal. The whole town is a river now.

“The water is inches from our door and the rain is still falling, so we could end up under water just like everyone else.”

Bronagh Boyd, a director of a property consultants on Hill Street, was busy piling sandbags outside on Tuesday.

“We’ve moved everything in the office up to the first floor like our computers, so hopefully we won’t be too bad,” she said.

“Once water gets into a building it’s an absolute torture. It will be a quiet day of business today, that’s for sure.”

SDLP councillor Doire Finn said businesses had been “devastated” by the flooding, and there was major anxiety about what was still to come.

“This all happened so quickly, but huge thanks needs to be paid to council workers who have been on the go for 24 hours now to make sure as much as can be done has been done.”

The Department for Infrastructure had initiated a multi-agency response on Monday night to contain the damage by distributing thousands of sandbags.

A spokesperson said that heavy rain on already saturated land in recent days had caused many issues for watercourses and roads, with operational teams working to contain the damage where possible.

With the weather warnings remaining in place until Thursday, the public are reminded of the flooding incident line on 0300 2000 100.

Multiple incidents of flooding and rain damage have also been reported in the Republic, including the partial collapse of a bridge in north Louth.

Sinn Féin TD, Ruairí Ó Murchú, repeated calls for improved flood prevention measures and a better weather warning system for the public.

 "There are real fears about what the next 48 hours are going to bring, because the issues are there from a point of view of blocked drains, overloaded sewerage systems and a lack of sandbags, all of which need to be addressed as a matter of urgency.”