RESIDENTS of Newcastle who had to leave their homes because of the flooding last year have recalled those harrowing events and revealed their fears of repeat occurrences.
A year ago, at Halloween, residents in the Marguerite Avenue area experienced severe flooding, which in some cases caused massive damage to some of the homes.
For example, the bungalow of Maura O’Neill and her husband Kieran flooded on Halloween night.
The water destroyed their possessions and they had to move out for almost eight months.
They are still feeling the effects.
Maura told the Mourne Observer: “I will never forget it and coming up to Halloween this year, I am nervous.
“The water came through our brick air vents. We had a beautiful fire on, and I could see it coming in through under the ash pan.”
Maura remembers the night of the flooding, and how the rain fell on Marguerite Avenue and the puddles grew bigger and bigger.
“This big puddle started at the footpath outside of a neighbour’s house. I was watching the puddle. I said to Kieran: ‘That puddle is coming over near us’.
“Then, as the night drew in, the cars were driving up and down. As people were going up and down the street they were pushing the water into our garden.
“That went on all night.”
The next morning, they realised the extent of the damage, and Maura was inconsolable.
“These farmers came and pumped the water. I thought I was going to have to use buckets to get the water out. But when the water was pumped the water level went down in our bungalow, which I couldn’t believe.
“Cllr Laura Devlin was very good. She came round here the day after the flooding. She came round in her water boots. I was in tears.”
The flooding happened at Halloween last year and then again in December 2023.
Those instances have left Maura hyper-sensitive.
“I don’t think I will ever get over this. Every time it rains, I panic. I had part of my stomach removed with cancer 27 years ago. But you would not believe the sensation I get in my stomach and my body every time there is heavy rain.
“So, every time it rains, I can’t sleep and the first thing I do is to look over to see if that big puddle has started.
“When I watch flooding on TV I have to walk out of the room.”
A number of weeks ago she was in Newcastle at a group she attends, and the rain started falling.
“I couldn’t even talk to the woman as I was busy watching the rain falling.
“Every time it rains I just panic. I can’t cope with it.
“Last week we got a warning. It said there is going to be torrential rain and to get prepared.
“It scares the life out of me.”
The second time it happened, the couple weren’t in the house at the time.
“We couldn’t get to our street. There was what I would call a swimming pool in the middle of our street.
“We tried to get through via the other side but couldn’t get in.”
Maura and Kieran moved to Newcastle four years ago, having lived in Belfast all their lives.
She added they had no idea their house was flood-prone until what happened last year and said they wouldn’t have bought the house if they had known it had flooded in 2008.
The damage to their house last year meant they had to move to temporary accommodation.
They found a house in Eliza Close, through the Baptist Church, where they lived until May of this year. They borrowed furniture from St Vincent de Paul.
Fortunately, they had insurance to cover the damage. It cost £48,000 for the builders to repair the home and they received £12,800 for their personal items.
“We lost everything,” Maura said.
But some of the things they lost are irreplaceable, including her and her mother’s wedding albums, as well as children’s photos.
All those personal items had been in the loft but had been moved downstairs as they were doing a loft conversion at the time of the floods.
“It would have been finished in a week (after the flood). All our stuff for storage was down under the beds and in the front rooms and in our garage. All that stuff went to the skip. Everything was destroyed.”
Now they are working towards getting their house protected from future instances of flooding.
“That work will start in November. That might give us peace of mind, I don’t know.”
However, Maura said that despite the damage the senior citizens, as she calls herself and her husband, will stay in Newcastle.
The couple had been coming to the town for many years before they moved.
“We love Newcastle. Kieran actually never liked Newcastle till he met me. We used to always go to Newcastle so he was up and down to it so many times that he loves it.
“We love this street, we love the people, but my life has just changed.
“We will never leave here.”
The solace that they have is that they are part of a supportive community.
They are part of the Newcastle Regional Community Resilience Group (RCRG), which is run by the sub committee of Sheila Maginn, Sam Anderson and Gareth Jones and includes homeowners from the area who want to campaign for better flood preventions.
Maura said: “That group is a blessing. Every time we go to that group I say to them ‘Thank God we have you’. We would have been lost without that group.
“Most people have been in the same position.
“They know what we are going through.
“They have been as bad as us. It really helps me to know that someone cares.”
Another resident who was affected last year, although not to the extent of the O’Neills, is Avril Gibson.
She lives on Marguerite next to the river, and remembers Halloween last year, and the flooding.
“It was a surprise. There is a flood wall at the end of the garden. The flood came up to a foot off the top of the wall.
“The thing that caused it was the blocked flood drain system.
“The water came up through the grates in the road.”
The water got into her house but only to floor level.
“The carpets were damp and I had to get a dehumidifier. I had to leave it for two weeks.
“It was not badly affected compared to others. There are people who had the water come through their floorboards. They were much more affected than I was.”
Avril said that the threat of flooding remains a concern.
“There was heavy rain a few nights ago. I have been a bit nervous. I have got a hedge at the front of the house but I might take that away and get a wall.”
Like the O’Neills, Avril is glad that the RCRG group exists.
“The RCRG is a good group but everything happens so slowly.
“I hope that the meetings that we are having will bear fruit.
“We need to get sandbags nearer to our homes rather than in places like Islands Park.”