Newtownards bomb at Rivenwood: Woman evacuted by PSNI with one hour's notice says she empathises with Ukranian refugees who stayed in Ards community
A woman who was evacuated from her home with one hour's notice due to a bomb in Newtowards says the experience has caused her to empathise with Ukrainian refugees who were welcomed into her community.
More than 400 homes have been evacuated after a WWII bomb was found by builders in the Rivenwood area of Newtownards on Friday.
The operation to clear the historical munition could take more than five days.
Julieann Brownlee has been evacuated from the Stratheden Heights along with her husband, son and dog.
Her neighbours got letters warning them of the evacuation, but for some reason she didn't.
"I thought, this is great. But when I went to church on Sunday morning and came back I realised that my house was cordoned off - it was actually extremely upsetting.
"And I'm sure I'm not not alone in that, because there were actually quite a few cars parked at the cordon and wanting to get access to their homes."
"The police were not going to let me in. And I said, 'Look, I had no notification'.
"So they basically gave me an hour to get my stuff gathered together and get out."
She has been put up by friends in their home on the Ards Peninsula.
As a hybrid working civil servant it has been stressful to get a wifi signal and work space in order to work and receive urgent important communications.
Julieann is immunosuppressed and carries an epi-pen.
A key question for her was how long the evacuation is likely to last - to help her plan buying her own food and drink.
"Food and drink is a big issue for me. What is really important for me is where I go to, where I eat and what I do? So the friends that I'm with understand my allergies and understand how complex they are."
"Considering I had to be out within an hour, It really did resonate with me how Ukrainian refugees must feel.
"I had friends and family who very kindly opened their homes to them and now I am very grateful that I have friends who have done the same for me."
Being in her fifties, she has "an awareness" of the Troubles; if the bomb goes off there is the risk of it "kind of throwing you back into all that".
As someone who has done some community work, she is fielding many questions from her community.
"I've had people ask me, Will their homes be safe when they are not in them? What will happen to their house if this bomb is detonated? I just don't know the answers.
"Some people have asked their insurance companies if they are covered, and they can't tell them. That must be incredibly stressful."
Families are being split up and are also being split from their pets.
The local Lost and Found social media page has had over 300 people offering to foster pets.
She has "every confidence" in the experts dealing with the bomb.
But she does believe that there should be "learnings" in how to better manage such a situation should it arise again.
- Ards veterans charity Beyond the Battlefield is housing four evacuated families at its new veterans centre in Portavogie.