'I used my chair lift to escape flooding'

A 94-year-old woman with mobility issues has said she used her chair lift to escape upstairs when the ground floor of her home was flooded during Storm Bert.

Annie Sweeney lives in Kings Row in Coalisland, County Tyrone, where about 15 properties were flooded on Saturday morning.

"It started off with the water coming through the front door and suddenly the whole place was swimming and we all had to rush upstairs," she told BBC News NI.

Her family are among several households in Coalisland and Dundonald who are still cleaning up in the aftermath of the storm.

Parts of Northern Ireland recorded more than half a month’s rainfall during Storm Bert, which began to hit the UK and Ireland on Saturday morning.

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service said that it got 85 flooding-related emergency calls.

“I have the chair lift to get up the stairs, so I had to get up on it as soon as I could," Ms Sweeney said.

"Look at the dirt of the floor. We just have to put up with it."

The pensioner lives with her daughter Carmel McDermott, who said they have lost their car, furniture and other household goods to flood damage.

“I was standing at the top of the stairs and it was like standing listening to a river coming through the house," Ms McDermott said.

"It was a about nine inches high in the living room.

"The hall floor, the wooden floor was completely lifted, it was just floating about."

She added that all their kitchen furniture had to be dumped and "anything close to the ground is destroyed".

Stormont's communities minister has activated an emergency payment scheme to help support flood victims but Ms McDermott fears they will still be out of pocket.

“Council says we’ll get a grant of £1,000, but sure that wouldn’t even touch the amount we need for the damage," she said.

Her mother has lived in Kings Row she was a child and Saturday was the second time within 10 years that the family has lost a car as a result of flooding .

Mid Ulster councillor Dan Kerr said residents n the street fear their "houses and livelihoods are on the line" every time a storm is forecast.

He told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme he believed it was the fourth time the street had been flooded since 2015.

"This can’t happen again when there is heavy rain predicted, it's unacceptable in the 21st Century."

He added that the repeated flood damage was having "physical, emotional and financial consequences" for the residents.

Residents of Park Avenue in Dundonald, where about 18 homes were damaged, had also previously raised concerns about flooding in their area.

The independent councillor said research had been carried out in Kings Row area recently, after he and other local representatives raised concerns about flooding.

He said they were told that work would "get to the bottom of the issue, but obviously not".

The residents "believe they’ve been let down several times by the statutory agencies".

In Dundonald some residents woke to find they were trapped by rising flood water and had to wait until it receded before they could open their doors.

Hannah McCann was at home with her nine-month-old baby in Park Avenue when the flooding began about 08:00 GMT on Saturday.

"I actually heard rushing water and thought that maybe I’d left the bathroom tap running," she told the BBC's Nolan Show.

"So I went to check it out and then realised that there was water rushing in through our front door.

"Everything was just covered in brown, murky, oily water."

Ms McCann said her son's toybox overturned and his toys floated through the house where she has lived for the past six years.

"Everything is destroyed. I'm actually at the house today to try to salvage what I can."

She praised the response of Crosspoint Church in Dundonald which opened its doors to residents who were forced out of their homes by the floods.

"They were absolutely incredible," she said, explaining they provided shelter, hot drinks, blankets and even fed her cat and dog while she tried to sort things out.

Stepping onto this street, work is under way to clear the road of sewage and rain water.

But going door to door you see peoples’ lives thrown out onto their front gardens.

Tip-toeing through their homes, you’ve to be careful not to slip on sodden floors and children’s destroyed play mats.

In some of the homes, the smell hits you like a wall of stench.

Christmas trees and decorations are surrounded by muddy puddles. The homes are freezing, as they remain cut off from power.

People are dressed in clothes belonging to friends and relatives.

While there is a sense of community spirit, the shock of what’s happened is still sinking in.

Like Kings Row, this is not the first time that Park Avenue has been flooded.

Footage from BBC Northern Ireland archives shows that homes in the street were badly damaged by flooding twice within a year in the 1970s.

Meanwhile about 20 families are affected after their rural road was hit by a landslide during Storm Bert.

It is the second landslide on the Glenshesk Road, outside Ballycastle, County Antrim, in the past year.

An earlier one in March still has not been repaired, which means the road has already been inaccessible from one direction for months.

Frankie McBride, a part-time farmer who lives on the road, said if the second landslide worsens then residents will basically be "landlocked" and unable to leave the area in either direction.

“Farmers cant get to their stocks, people can’t get to work and most families have a job. We’re all working in trades and can’t work from home," he said.

A spokesperson for the Department of Infrastructure (DfI) said it is "urgently assessing the extent of the damage" caused on the Glenshesk Road at the weekend.

With regards to the damage caused earlier this year, the department said this is a "complex issue that requires significant engineering consideration".

A design solution is currently being developed and is expected to be completed in early 2025, with construction works following "subject to funding and favourable weather conditions", it added.

The Republic of Ireland was also heavily hit by Storm Bert, with about 60,000 customers being without power at one point on Saturday.

The County Donegal town of Killybegs was one of the areas worst affected by flooding.

Independent councillor Niamh Kennedy told Good Morning Ulster 22 properties had been damaged.