Dealing with insurance companies after the floods adds to stress for affected householders, writes LORNA SIGGINSWestern Correspondent
DORA CALLANAN has been diagnosed with cancer twice in the last 10 years, and lost her father a few months ago. She has survived all that, and yet when the water came into her east Galway home over a month ago, “it pulled the bottom out of our world”.
Ms Callanan, a resource teacher at Gaelscoil Riabhach in Loughrea and mother of two children, feels completely dislocated by a very traumatic event. The family has been accommodated temporarily a mile away, and they are unsure when they will be able to return to their home at Cloonoo, outside Loughrea, again.
“I think when you find yourself wading through in water up to your thighs, trying to save stuff, you find it difficult to think of being emotionally and physically secure in your house again,” she says.
“We’re a ‘Normal Joe’ family that just about pays bills . . . we don’t have any funds that we can draw down.” She says the family has received “incredible” support from their local community welfare officer and from St Vincent de Paul – but that the fact that they are in a rural area makes them feel very much alone.
Her 17-year-old is doing his Leaving Certificate next year, and she had so wished to give him stability during that time. “And that’s something now that he hasn’t got,” she says.
In Ballinasloe, Willie Devlin of Ashfield Drive will be spending Christmas with his wife at his daughter’s house, six miles away – but is determined that the couple will return home some time next year. He’s also determined to avoid wooden floors, and intends to lay tiles instead with sealant similar to that used in swimming pools.
“I’m 63 next birthday, my wife is two years younger, we have one son still here, and this is our home,” Mr Devlin says. “There’s eight bungalows in this estate, the majority of residents are elderly, and won’t be able to go back for at least four months.”
Mr Devlin received an advance from his insurance company, thanks to lobbying by his assessor. However, a young neighbour with a child received a registered letter from her insurer in the last few days to inform her that she would not get cover again – adding considerably to her stress.
This reporter has heard similar stories reflecting a less than helpful response from insurers across the county over the last few days.
One east Galway resident who preferred not to be named in case it would cause problems with her insurer held up a booklet on flooding she had found in her local library, published by the Office of Public Works.
“Don’t begin any work without the approval of your insurance company,” the booklet says on page 29. “That’s fine in theory, but the OPW should try out our experience,” the resident said.
“It’s not as if the insurance is ever going to cover the full cost. Nor will they ever tell you to knock and build.
“The worst is that you can’t even think of applying to the Government’s humanitarian aid fund till you know where you stand with the insurance company,” she said.
The Government’s fund for immediate emergency assistance – which is separate to the €10 million humanitarian aid fund – comes with some strings attached, in Mr Devlin’s experience.
“The first week, we got €200 for my wife and myself and €100 for my son – who did Trojan work helping people during the worst of the deluge,” Mr Devlin said.
“When my son went to sign on the dole, he found it had been cut in the Budget. Then we were told that any further emergency aid would only be given on the basis that we paid it back when we got our insurance cheque. I told them to forget about any further aid, and I went to the credit union and got a loan.
“These things all add to the worry and stress,” he continues. “You know I went in to help a neighbour try and rescue a few mementoes, and I just cried with her. She has lost memories that will never be replaced.”
In Craughwell village, which was engulfed by the Dunkellin river, Mary Kelly returns to her bungalow daily at Caherdevane to take out a bucket of water. Her daughter had come home from Australia just several days before the water hit, and her husband Paddy was not well at the time.
“We moved in back in 1979,” Mr Kelly says. “When there were floods in 1990 and 1994, the nearest the water came was the front lawn.” The couple are currently staying in a relative’s house close by. Several houses in Craughwell village were also very badly affected.
“Every day you find something you’ve lost,” Mrs Kelly says. “An eight piece pottery set came apart in our hands just the other day, and my daughter was devastated. Our home as we knew it is now nothing but bare walls.”