Severe flooding hits the north and west
Northern Ireland has been battered by heavy rain as violent storms triggered numerous flooding incidents.
Last updated 11th Jan 2018
Heavy rainfall overnight has led to flooding across Northern Ireland.
The fire service dealt with over 60 incidents - including many where motorists were rescued from vehicles trapped in flood waters.
The majority of the callouts were in the north and west.
Londonderry was particularly badly hit - numerous roads were closed there last night,
The Glenshane Pass was just one of the main routes shut for safety fears - it's now being described as passable with care
But motorists are being advised to drive with extra caution right across the province this morning
Coastguard crews also had to be deployed in Strabane and Derry. Teams battled flash flooding across Central and Northwest Northern Ireland At one point three Coastguard Rescue Helicopters were tasked.
“This was a very busy and challenging night for Fire Crews and our Regional Control Centre Personnel. I commend them for their professionalism in responding to such challenging circumstances as efficiently as they did throughout the night.
The downpours swept in from the Atlantic Ocean, hitting Co Donegal before moving across Northern Ireland during Tuesday evening.
Met Eireann and the Met Office issued yellow rain warnings for the northern half of the island.
Between 7pm and 11pm firefighters in Northern Ireland responded to 60 flooding incidents.
A number of people were rescued from cars caught in the sudden floods and police issued a warning to all road users to exercise caution in the hazardous conditions.
Alan Walmsley, Assistant Chief Fire & Rescue Officer, NIFRS said:
“Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS) responded to 85 incidents as direct result of the heavy rainfall last night and into the early hours of this morning. 87% of these of the incidents occurred in Western Area. Firefighters rescued 93 people who were trapped by flood water either from their cars or from properties.
A considerable number of these incidents have occurred in the west of the province.
“Our Regional Control Centre received 402 emergency 999 calls between 7pm last night (22 Aug) and 4am this morning (23 Aug). At its peak time between 9pm and 11pm, RCC handled an emergency call every 45 seconds.
NIFRS has carried out a number of rescues of persons trapped in vehicles in flood water and we would advise all road users to exercise extreme caution overnight.''
“Firefighters worked in extremely challenging circumstances to reach people. A number of roads were impassable due to flooding and Crews had to take alternative routes to attend some incidents."
A multi-agency conference meeting between Emergency services, drainage agencies and Derry City and Strabane District Council this morning to commence the recovery.
A spokesperson from the Department from infrastructure said:
"The Met Office has confirmed that 63% of the average August rainfall fell within a 8-9 hours period.
"Throughout yesterday evening and last night the agencies deployed all available resources, working together to respond to a very high volume of calls from the public needing assistance and distributed sandbags.
"The Agencies are now coordinating a prioritised recovery to this wide spread event. DfI Roads and Rivers, the Housing Executive and the Council are working together to begin the extensive clean up required to homes, business, roads and other public areas. This work will continue over the next few days. Further advice will be issued by the council and will also be available on their web site.
"The scheme of emergency financial assistance, which is administered by Councils is open to all residents significantly affected by flooding within their homes. Further advice will be issued by the council about this scheme and will also be available on their web site.
"Work also continues to open the main roads in the City."
Across the border on the Inishowen peninsula in north Donegal, roads turned into rivers of water as rain battered the area. There were also numerous reports of thunder and lightning.
“We worked closely with colleagues from the Irish Coastguard Agency, PSNI, Ambulance Service, Foyle Search and Rescue and local Councils, to respond to incidents to assist members of the public. Our specialist teams including the Water Rescue Teams and Specialist Rescue Team from Belfast were deployed and worked alongside local operational crews.
All flights in and out of Derry City Airport have also been cancelled as the terminal building is under water.