Memories of floods are still too fresh for people

Editorial Department • Published 27 Oct 2011 13:00 0 Comments

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It doesn't tax the memory too much to look back at the suffering endured by hundreds two years ago when many parts of Fermanagh were under water.

Our rivers and lakes turned from picturesque areas into threats to every day life when as a county we were under water.

So it must have seemed like the most awful deja-vu when the rains came tumbling down again this week. Last week we saw flash flooding in many areas and again this week many were affected.

The severe effects of the rain in the Clogher Valley shows how even the most sacred of events has been affected.

A funeral service was disrupted when water began to seep into the main body of Carntall Presbyterian Church in Clogher. The service had to be cancelled with the interment alone taking place.

Members of the congregation had attempted to place sandbags at the front of the church when the rain returned on Monday this week, however their efforts were to no avail.

Parishoners could be without their meeting house for up to six months after it flooded twice in the last week.

The owner of Clogher Valley Caravan Park and his family were also up all night on Monday trying to alleviate the damage caused to their home. And patients from three wards at the Tyrone and Fermanagh hospital site in Omagh had to be relocated as a precautionary measure due to the possibility of flooding on Tuesday.

October rainfall has so far been above average, with the entire month's average rainfall falling in the first 20 days and more rain is due later in the week. Upper Lough Erne also exceeded the statutory maximum level on Monday night.

Given our recent experience of flooding and the devastating effects that it had, we can only hope that the efforts to prevent such widespread misery will work this time around.

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 27 Oct 11

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