FERMANAGH FLOODS: Erne set to keep rising
FERMANAGH is bracing itself for the prospect of further flooding after forecasts for more heavy rain.
Sandbags were desperately deployed in the centre of Enniskillen at the Erneside Shopping Centre yesterday as the water level of Lough Erne, which has already reached record levels, continued to rise.
According to the Rivers Agency, water levels, which are expected to peak over the next few days, may not recede to normal levels for up to several weeks.
PICTURE GALLERY: Flooding in Fermanagh
Schoolchildren, farmers, local businesses and the elderly are bearing the brunt of the flooding which has left many main roads impassable and, in some cases, completely isolated rural homes.
Students with special needs from the Killadeas Day Care Centre have been left without their state-of-the-art IT facility at the Share Centre, outside Lisnaskea, which is currently under several feet of water.
Children from Moat Primary School are being taught in a temporary classroom set up in Teemore Orange Hall.
Many residents have been forced to use canoes to travel to and from their homes, while motorists travelling to the south of the county have been forced to take a 40-mile detour via Enniskillen as the main Derrylin Road has been closed due to extensive flooding.
While there have been no reports of homes being flooded, several houses in the rural Lisnaskea area are close to being submerged by the ever-expanding Lough Erne.
Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA Arlene Foster said the recent heavy rainfall and associated flooding "has had a major impact in Fermanagh".
"Considerations, I understand, have been made to see if there would be a possibility of raising some roads, even temporarily, so that traffic could begin to use closed roads again," said the DUP representative.
"In a rural community, this access is vital. I will continue to liaise with the appropriate agencies who are working together to find solutions to this ongoing problem."
Agriculture Minister Michelle Gildernew, who witnessed the efforts to stem the rising tides at Erneside Shopping Centre yesterday, said "every effort" will be made to help those affected.
"We are all working very closely in the Executive to ensure that everything that can be done will be done for those badly affected by the latest flooding incidents and I've spoken directly to the Finance Minister to stress that despite the current economic climate it is vital that flood alleviation is kept an Executive priority."
The minister added: "In the days ahead, my officials will undertake a speedy review of this flooding incident."
Regina Calders and her family are nervously watching the weather forecasts as the water inches ever closer to their new home on the Derrylin Road in Lisnaskea.
"We thought that the rising water would not reach us," she said. "But now the water is just a few inches from coming through our front door. You can see it rising all the time. We only moved into our new house last week.”
Another couple who were forced to flee their home at Kilmore Road, Lisnaskea, where the flooding has isolated up to seven homes and farms, told the News Letter they had been “left with no choice”.
“We have been living here for just over a week and we love this part of the country but there is no way that we can go on living like this,” said Anthony Poulton.
“It has got to the point where we cannot get any supplies and if the water levels continue to rise at the rate they have been there is a real danger that our home may flood.
“It has become quite frightening. We have a 10-year-old daughter and two dogs so we have no choice but to move out while we can.”
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Weather for Belfast
Monday 28 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 13 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South
