Newcastle: Co Down residents are recovering as floods left an 'earthquake-shaped crater' in the street

The floods did not reach homes on Sunningdale Drive but destroyed much of their road and left residents stranded for hours.

Liz McLaughlin has lived in Newcastle for more than 40 years and says she has never experienced flooding as severe as what she woke up to on Sunday morning.

“Before, we might have had an inch or two of water coming down, and that was eventful enough, but this time it was something else. It was very fast, very furious, and such a volume of water,” she said.

Liz said a number of stones had been placed in holes along the road. It is believed that the flowing water lifted stones that then tore apart parts of the amphitheater.

“They were ripping out pieces of the lane, taking them down the street, and that's what caused this hole that looked like an earthquake,” she said.

“It was very scary, waking up in the morning and hearing all that,” Liz added.

Kevin Murray (65 years old) said he was terrified when he woke up to see floods outside his house yesterday.

“The sheer force and size was frightening,” he said. “I'm glad not many homes were affected.”

Kevin said residents had to work hard to prevent water from reaching homes.

“The street was literally like a river, with a neighbor knocking on my door asking for help, just another hand.

“[I] “I got some shovels and headed down the street to remove rocks to direct the water away from people's cars,” he said.

Kevin said residents would have appreciated more support from the Infrastructure Department.

“The guys from the Department of Energy arrived, with a truck loaded with sandbags.

“They could only give us five or six sandbags and they had to go to someone else's house who apparently needed it urgently.

“It was a long time before they got back to us, but they were all under pressure,” he said. “But yes, things could have happened a little faster.”

Kevin believes that if residents had not worked together to move some of the stones, the situation could have been much worse.

“There was a point where we said: ‘There’s nothing else we can do here – we need more resources,’ but that didn’t happen.

“But he was a great mate.”

Alan Blair has lived on Sunningdale Drive for 50 years and described Sunday's floods as a “once in 50 years event”.

He added: “Some may say that freely, but I can say that with certainty.”

Alan believes it was a blocked canal that caused the floods.

Flooding in Co Down is 'the worst in 40 years' with some residents unable to leave their homes

“I think it was because there was a canal behind that house, set in the woods and it was blocked.

“It redirected all the water. We have a sump out the back, for lack of a better word, and that was supposed to take most of that water but it was diverted away from it,” he added.

Karen Mill (52 years old) is trapped in her parents' home with her son due to floods.

“I'm actually busy packing up mum and dad's house here on Sunningdale Drive because they live in a nursing home in Crossgar. I'm just busy packing up their house and getting rid of her stuff.

“I was supposed to go home yesterday, but then my car broke down on Saturday evening.

“When my son and I woke up yesterday morning, we were a little scared.

“When we saw the flood coming down the road, even if my car had been fixed, I don't think I would have taken this opportunity or that opportunity to drive home. So it was probably a blessing in disguise,” Karen said.

Ronnie Arthur (75 years old) said that he and his wife had to stay inside and watch the floods destroy parts of the road.

“We were trapped in the house and it was just a crazy turn down the hill. Eventually it was just boiling over everywhere and lifting up the road surface,” he said.

Rooney said he never expected to see such heavy flooding in the area.

He said: “We saw a few drops running down the sides when it rained heavily but yesterday was unbelievable.”

A Department of Infrastructure spokesperson said: “Department staff have been on standby throughout the weekend following the Met Office weather warning.

“More than 900 sandbags were deployed in the Newcastle area and staff were also involved in clearing local roads of debris including large stones.

“Employees were on the ground to remove screens and continue clearing obstructions as a result of the debris.

“There are no reports of flooding in any local rivers.

“The source of the flooding is surface water runoff from the Morne Mountains following heavy rain overnight.

“All flood incidents should be contacted on the Flood Incident Line 0300 2000 100.”

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