Floods blame game begins
Tuesday, 19 August 2008
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Official agencies tasked with responding quickly to the fierce flooding which paralysed large parts of Northern Ireland were today called before a government committee to account for their reactions to the emergency.
Staff from the Road Service, Rivers Agency and Northern Ireland Water have been asked to appear at a special meeting of the Regional Development Committee to explain the problems that arose after torrential weekend rain deluged countryside and towns. The Broadway underpass on the Westlink through Belfast was reopened shortly before 5am today after workers battled for more than 48 hours to clear away water and mud.
The underpass had been filled to the lip after the Clowney River overflowed, leaving cars stranded beneath 20 feet of water.
Regional Development Minister Conor Murphy was forced to admit there had been “serious failings” in the underpass after SDLP MLA John Dallat called for an inquiry into why it flooded. He told the Belfast Telegraph: “That is a huge source of concern. The Westlink is strategically a very important route and it was opened with great fanfare and welcome a few months ago, and to find that in the first serious weather incident it is completely flooded out is a huge concern.”
Mr Murphy said there have been criticisms over building so close to the Bog Meadows but pointed out that nothing similar ever happened to the M1 motorway that has been in place for years.
“That is where the motorway was built 40 years ago and it didn’t leave much choice for us but to build there.
“Clearly in this case there was a very abnormal pattern of rainfall and it didn't cope with that. Both myself and the general public would like to hear some answers as a matter of urgency as to what went wrong and how we intend to cope with that in the future.
“Our priority has been to get the underpass open to traffic and now we are asking Roads Service with the contractor to investigate as a matter of urgency what did go wrong and what steps we can take to prevent it happening again.”
Mr Murphy also said he hoped to see progress on setting up a single flood emergency phone number later this year.
“Sometimes people get passed between a large number of agencies. We are striving to get a single number in place — that won’t stop the rainfall but often a complaint after these incidents is about the ability to contact the authorities. We are hoping to have something moving on that in October.”
Environment Minister Sammy Wilson defended the Executive but admitted an emergency telephone number would have helped.
The DRD committee’s deputy chairman Jim Wells said the floods had been a wake-up call for the flood agencies and said the Fire Service was the only one to have responded quickly enough.
This morning, rail services between Moira and Lisburn were delayed after the railway line was flooded leaving one line under water, and Translink introduced an emergency timetable.
\[Carmel Robinson\]Motorists on the Antrim Coast Road were held up following a landslip north of Waterfoot but police said the road was still passable with care.\[Carmel Robinson\]Mr Wilson has announced that householders whose property was hit by the floods will be eligible for a £1,000 payment to help them make their homes habitable as quickly as possible.
Farmers up and down the country were today counting the cost of the weekend’s flash flooding on their livelihoods.
Hundreds of acres were still underwater after rivers burst their banks and the torrid water ravaged everything in its path.
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"These were exceptional circumstances which no infrastructure in the world could have coped with"... ABSOLUTE NONSENSE!
A properly planned layoput would have allowed for the fact that Belfast is built on a BOG! There is a RIVER running right next to the great big depression they dug into a potential flood point! Dig a hole in a wet beach and it will very soon fill up with water. Elementary.
Yes, I applaud the heroes who battled through the horrible conditions to rescue people and their animals, vehicles and homes from the recent deluge - that does NOT detract from the blame that MUST be firmly placed at the door of the people who stupidly decided to put an underpass (HOLE) in a well known potential flood area.
Thank you Brian for your comments, but I really think (with respect) that you are mising the point!
Posted by David | 20.08.08, 01:33 GMT
yes brian the rain was unprecedented, but emergency measures should be in place so that the underpass is 'futureproofed' so to speak. weather events are usually classes as a 1 in 10 year, 1 in 50 year, 1 in 100 year event etc...so precautions should really have been in place.
Posted by Vicky | 20.08.08, 00:23 GMT
Why are fire fighters (used to be call firemen !) working to clear the underpass (per photo), surely it is the responsibilty of the owners of the road (Road Service or the contractor ?)?
I agree the underpass should not have flooded no matter what the amount of rain. The amount of rain was due to persistant rain fall over an extended period of a number of hours. Last year we had floods due to exceptional rainfall over only 2 hours. The underpass should have coped.
There are areas of this city which always suffer during flood. I know of systems used on the continent which would fully protect these areas if money and time was spent. If the city council/ gov are prepared to invest a few million over the next couple of years i don't mind sorting the problem areas - in a real fashion, not a cheap & stupid sandbag fashion.
Posted by FT | 20.08.08, 00:15 GMT
It is a good job the water ended up in the underpass and not in a row of houses nearby.
The reason we have an underpass and not a bridge is because everyone wanted to hide westlink.
Posted by David | 19.08.08, 21:04 GMT
Although there may be some blame to be apportioned, we must be realistic. The rainfall was unprecedented, and as such no one could predict the consequences of the deluge.
Congratulations and well done to the emergency services without whom the outcome would have been much worse.
Posted by Brian | 19.08.08, 18:55 GMT
Sure Sammy says climate change is a myth, maybe this was God's work?...I know it was punishment for Gay Pride! So you see all we have to do is allow the Free P's unfettered autocratic power and all our prayers will be answered :p
Posted by M Spence | 19.08.08, 18:21 GMT
We should be happy, there are many places in the world at the moment with NO water in sight.
Count your blessings!
Posted by Manuel Estas | 19.08.08, 17:24 GMT
What did the designers expect to happen when they dug a great big hole (or "underpass" as they insist on calling it) right beside a bogland and a river?
Common sense declares that ANY hole/depression situated beside a wet are will, eventually, be subjected to flooding.
Why could the planners not have run the road OVER Broadway in the same way the motorway and railway were routed over the Lagan?
D'OH!
Posted by David | 19.08.08, 14:07 GMT
Possible venue for 2012 swimming Olympics?
Posted by Philip | 19.08.08, 13:36 GMT
There are only two reasons why the underpass might have filled up: faulty design or faulty construction. The feeble excuse by the contractor that the weather was "exceptional" is not acceptable. What's the design lifetime of a big civil engineering project like this? 50 years? 30 years? It should therefore be designed to handle once-in-a-century weather events at the very least.
Posted by Steve Graham | 19.08.08, 12:36 GMT
These were exceptional circumstances which no infrastructure in the world could have coped with. We don't get a months rain in 12 hours.Everyone should be thankful no lives were lost and that the minimal damage under the circumstances can be repaired. STOP COMPLAINING AND GET ON WITH IT.Let's concentrate on congratulating the heroes of the day and not slating everyone off on a witch-hunt.
Posted by Brian Taylor | 19.08.08, 11:24 GMT
Could you send some of this to drought stricken Australia. We'd love it!
Posted by Bert | 19.08.08, 09:21 GMT