Counting the cost of Storm Bert: Dundonald residents forced to flee homes as flooding hits parts of Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland has been counting the cost of floods and wind after Storm Bert battered the province.
Among the parts worst hit was the Moat Park area of Dundonald, close to the Ulster Hospital, where people had to flee their homes as flood water came pouring in.
Householders were forced out over the weekend, with churches and an Orange Hall in the town opening their doors as emergency accommodation.
One Dundonald resident, who asked not to be named, said: “The church was a real lifeline.
“They offered us all place to sleep overnight, but fortunately everyone was able to find somewhere to stay with relatives.
"Our part of Dundonald has had problems with flooding before, so we were expecting it to be bad – but it’s never been this bad.”
The householder stated that many locals had hoped to be able to tough out the storm, only for rising floods to force them into the upper floors of their homes.
"The Northern Ireland Fire Service had to come out to help a lot of us, by pumping water away,” he said.
"Getting through the weekend has been a real team effort, we’ve needed a lot of people to come together.
"Now we’re looking at what we can do in terms of clean-up and what we can save from the house – that, and making a claim from the insurers.
"So close to Christmas, this is the last thing we wanted to be dealing with.”
Area DUP alderman Sharon Skillen was on the scene over the weekend, helping her constituents deal with the fallout from the storm.
She described the scenes she witnessed as heartbreaking, while pledging to do all she can to make sure the town is protected from floods in future.
"This is a hugely distressing time for those residents impacted by the flooding on Saturday,” she said.
"It is essential that we now see those bodies with a statutory responsibility to protect these homes step up with a plan on how to prevent any reoccurrence of what we have seen.
"As councillors, we will be working along with Gavin Robinson MP and my MLA colleagues David Brooks and Joanne Bunting to make the strongest possible representations on behalf of the community. We must see action soon.”
Storm Bert brought heavy rainfall and strong winds across much of the UK over the weekend, with rain and windy weather projected to last until Tuesday of this week.
Across the UK at least five people were killed in the storm, while there were widespread power outages as well as train and flight cancellations, including flights bound for Newcastle Airport in England being redirected to Belfast.
Although much of Northern Ireland got off comparatively lightly, winds of up to 67mph were recorded while the Department for Infrastructure said it responded to more than 500 incidents as a result of Storm Bert.
Roads across counties Tyrone, Down and Antrim were blocked by trees and flood waters on Saturday, and homes were flooded in Dundonald, Coalisland, Kilcoo and Ballinamallard, as was a Royal Mail property in Mallusk.
An emergency payment scheme was opened over the weekend by Communities Minister Gordon Lyons, which means householders who suffered “severe inconvenience” from flooding can claim a £1,000 payment through their local council.