‘It is terrifying, I am heartbroken and we are getting no help at all’
A WIDOWED mother of three has spoken of her “complete and utter devastation” after 12ft of flood water engulfed her family home.
Catherine Lynch (58) said she hasn’t slept since Sunday night when Storm Desmond caused a “tiny stream” that runs through her property to swell so much that it now covers more than six acres of surrounding land of her home in Carrowkeel, Co Sligo. In some places, the floodwaters measure over 14ft deep.
The stagnant deluge, now polluted with sewage and kerosene and “floating dead rats,” has cut off heat and, up until yesterday, power to the property.
Mrs Lynch’s ground floor basement and garden have been destroyed by the floodwaters with the upper level of her home just inches away from the murky waters.
She fears another storm will cause the water to rise further. “I haven’t slept a wink,” she told the Irish
Independent. “It is just terrifying. I am heartbroken, and we are getting no help at all. We have been onto the council and fire brigade, and they all say the same thing... what can we do?
“We have lost so much already. My late husband Sean left us an old Jag. It isn’t worth much but it had massive sentimental value. Now it has been destroyed. So much has been destroyed and we have just found out that our insurance company won’t cover us.”
Ms Lynch insists the land, which has been in the family for generations, has never flooded to such an extent before. “As far as we can tell this problem is man-made,” she said.
Ms Lynch said no authority had offered her family any help.
“We have had no heat or hot water. We didn’t have power until today and we even had to fix that ourselves,” she said through a veil of tears.
In Donegal, residents are bracing themselves for another onslaught of raging floodwaters tonight just days after the county suffered some of its worst flooding in recent memory.
In Lifford where the River Finn meets the River Mourne to create the River Foyle, businesses and residents are on high alert.
The quiet border town suffered from a deluge that lasted from Saturday evening to Sunday night.
Local publican Geraldine Vambeck has said the surging water was the worst that she had experienced during her 27-years of business.
Ms Vambeck said her pub, the Central Bar, was forced to close its doors early on Saturday night as the water continued to rise.
“We could see in the car park that the water was rising and rising,” she said. “We had to go and buy sandbags, and we put them at the door, but it didn’t really help. It was like the water was streaming through the walls.”