A thirty metre long stretch of a four metre high wall collapsed during a landslide in Derry in the early hours of this morning following day long torrential rain.
The wall, at the rear of houses at Marlborough Terrace, collapsed onto three vehicles, destroying them all. It also ruptured a domestic oil tank spilling 900 litres of oil over a wide area.
Homes were flooded in the Ballymagroarty, Foyle Road, Foyle Springs, Carnhill and Bellachmore areas and roads were flooded throughout the city and in rural areas at Campsie and Eglinton. There was also flood damage to the Holy Family Church in Ballymagroarty.
Parish priest Fr Patrick O’Kane said three-quarters of the church was under water and mud.
“We have had to transfer a funeral and we have had to transfer the childrens’ Nativity play but we hope to have the church ready for Sunday.
We are waiting for the loss adjusters to arrive. We hope to get the church back in order for Christmas. The carpet in the church was only a few months old”, he said.
Bellachmore resident Raymond Beattie said the flood waters destroyed several electrical appliances as well as furniture in his home.
“The water came up to the window sill. Five of my neighbours’ homes have also been badly damaged and we’re facing four to six weeks out of our homes. For a while it was like being on an island surrounded by mud and rising waters and we all felt completely helpless. Like myself most of my neighbours couldn’t afford house insurance”, he said.
Six lorries also broke down on the flooded Derry to Belfast road at Foreglen and local farmers had to use tractors to recover the vehicles.
A spokesperson for the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue said they received twenty-eight call outs to flooded homes in Derry.
Meanwhile Foyle M.L.A. and Assembly Speaker William Hay said many homes in rural areas were also flooded.
“It is just like a death in the house and my heart goes out to some many people whose homes have been damaged or destroyed by these floods”, he said.