Clean-up after flash floods

The city is counting the cost of flash floods

Business owners and homeowners in Londonderry are undertaking a major clean-up operation after serious flooding struck the city.

Heavy thunderstorms on Tuesday flooded buildings, tore manhole covers off and left motorists trapped in their cars.

There were no reports of any injuries in the floods, which have been described as the worst in living memory.

The Met Office has issued a severe weather warning across Northern Ireland for Wednesday.

It said driving conditions would be hazardous at times due to heavy spells of thundery rain. Visibility would be reduced and many roads would have excess surface water, with localised flooding possible.

The drains would not be designed to take that capacity within short a short timeframe Paddy McCrudden Government spokesman

Stormont Minister Ian Pearson is visiting Derry on Wednesday to see the damage caused by the previous day's storms.

Vast parts of the city were left under up to two feet of water for several hours with Duncastle Road, Strand Road and the Shantallow area all affected.

In Victoria Road and Foyle Road, cars were trapped by the rising water. Fourteen people were rescued from their cars near Prehen.

The police said at least one car had crashed into an open manhole.

'Unprecedented rain'

An investigation of the emergency response is under way, but already there have been calls for better drainage in the city.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has called for an inquiry into why the drains failed, which, it said, was partly responsible for the flooding.

FSB north-west Chairman John Friel said: "Without a doubt this is a disaster for the many small businesses in Derry, who have seen their property wrecked and their livelihoods threatened.

"A big concern will be insurance claims that these businessmen will be making, which we fear will push up already high insurance premiums which small businesses in Derry and beyond are suffering from.

"Questions need to be asked if the drainage system was well maintained and if investment for modernisation was needed."

Paddy McCrudden, a spokesman for the government departments dealing with the emergency, said the torrential rain had been unprecedented.

'Total gridlock'

"I don't think, if people had known, there was much more we could have done," he said.

"The intensity of the rainfall, it came so fast, the drains would not be designed to take that capacity within that short a timeframe."

Jack McFarland of the Water Service said some of its equipment had been knocked out by the lightning.

"The sheer volume of water was such that it'll overwhelm anything we had," he said.

The police described the situation on the roads at one point as "total gridlock" after one bus and several cars were stranded.

At one stage, a search and rescue team which operates on the River Foyle was deployed in the city centre.

Most roads have now re-opened, but William Street is still cordoned off.

Meanwhile, in Cullybackey in County Antrim the roof of a bungalow in Brackley Heights burst into flames when it was hit by lightning.