Flood familiescould be out of homes for a year

FORTY families in the Killeaton area of Derriaghy, whose houses were destroyed following torrential floods a month ago, have been warned it could be up to a year before everyone is back in their homes.

Many of those affected attended a meeting at a local hotel on Tuesday night to get an update on what it happening.

One family, whose oil tank was destroyed, told MLAs and councillors who attended the meeting that she may have to have her whole garden dug up and it would take up to a year before they can return to their home again.

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Marie Marin, who organised the meeting to give support to all those going through a difficult time spoke of the frustration among families affected.

Ms Marin said: “I would never have believed how devastating flooding in a house was. Honesty, it has probably been the most difficult thing that I’ve ever lived through personally.”

She said that she has had to deal with builders and insurance companies, while at the same time trying to find alternative accommodation.

“It’s massive disruption and the fear is, every time we look out at the rain, is this going to happen again?” she asked

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“There’s a lot of anger and a lot of frustration and I think that comes from the fear among people that they don’t really know what happened and therefore we’re not able to say that this can’t happen again,” she said.

The son of 83-year-old Elizabeth Stewart, whose home was under 18 inches of contaminated water, was also present at the meeting. He said his mother, who has lived in her home for 55 years, was moved to temporary accommodation along with her beloved pets and has been told it could be another month before she can return back home.

She was one of the first residents to be given dehumidifiers by a local company which have been running constantly since the flooding in July to help dry it out. He said that because the company do not have enough to go around it is only now that others are getting them.

Mr Stewart said that while the damage to his mother’s house was bad, it soon becamse apparent she was one of the lucky ones. Other homes were under four feet of water.

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Assessors have told her family that while her home is dry it may be another month before she can now return home.

“My mother was upset at first but she is doing all right now,” he said. “She was very upset at the sight of her house and because she thought she could not take her cat and dog with her into the temporary accommodation but she has been allowed to bring them.”

He admits that it has been a big upheaval for his mother but praised the council and local MLAs for their help and support.

“The council were very good at getting support and when the local politicians arrived they were good at letting us know about payment schemes,” he said.

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Gary says he believes that a collapsed culvert on the Belsize Road to blame for the flooding which affected the Wilmar Road and Killeaton.

“The councillors and MLAs have all said they will liaise with NI Water and Rivers Agency to address this, which is good,” he said.

“My mother is just at the stage where she just wants back in again. She has never been away from her house for this length of time before.”

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