Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
More rainfall ..it’s all hands to the pump
Cash boost for victims in aftermath Weather alert after flash floods chaos
A COMMUNITY group has donated £10,000 to help local flood victims and will match public donations of up to a further £10,000.
Eglinton Community Ltd, which is helping people deal with the effects of the storm waters, will receive the first funds boost.
Andrew Mccracken – head of the Community Foundation which is behind the Derry project – said: “Many people have lost everything and will no doubt be dealing with the consequences for weeks and months to come.”
Debbie Caulfield from Eglinton Community Ltd said they are providing fresh water, food and clothing to those affacted.
She said: “It’s a real crisis situation and we are grateful for the additional support we are receiving from organisations like the Community Foundation.”
To support the group’s Acorn Flood Fund go to www.localgiving.org/ FLOOD agencies were on alert yesterday after more downpours hit areas devastated by weather chaos this week.
Families and businesses faced a huge clean-up operation after 63% of the average August rainfall plummeted down overnight on Tuesday.
The North West of the country was worst hit and as the Met Office issued another yellow weather warning for heavy downpours yesterday, the PSNI, fire service, Department for Infrastructure
YESTERDAY
Rivers and Roads, Northern Ireland Water and Local Government are swinging into action.
More than 8,000 sandbags have been distributed since Tuesday.
In a statement, the Department for Infrastructure said: “Given pre-existing saturation levels and ground conditions across some Western/north Western areas in particular, the increased risk of heavy showers today could lead to some localised flooding.
“Staff from all agencies are on the ground monitoring the situation.
“The agencies continue to work together on the clean-up operation and are grateful for the patience of local people as this important work continues.”
BT has received more than 3,000 reports of faults on its network following the flooding – the highest it has ever recorded.
A spokesman said: “We have diverted all resources into repairing this unprecedented volume of faults for our customers, and our engineer and service teams are working 24/7 on this major recovery programme.
“We are facing some very challenging conditions, however, for example the collapsed Claudy Bridge, where we are trying to protect the network cables running along it and maintain service.”
To report incidents of flooding, contact the incident line on 0300 2000 100. Further information is available at www.nidirect.gov.uk/flooding-your-area.