Department to accelerate floods investigation plans

Department to accelerate floods investigation plans

6 March 2024

A LEADING government department is accelerating plans to examine potential flood risk measures in Downpatrick town centre.

The move comes after last November’s catastrophic flooding when much of the town centre was swamped after the Quoile river burst its banks, leaving some businesses under five feet of water.

Over four months on, the business community is still counting the cost.

Stormont Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd has confirmed his department has accelerated plans to undertake a study to determine the factors that may have contributed to the flooding and consider if there are any viable flood risk management, maintenance or capital interventions which can be identified, including in the vicinity of the Downpatrick and County Down Railway.

The minister said while the report will be published when it is complete and the Department for infrastructure regulate the safety of heritage railways, funding, investment and growth for them are not within his department's remit.

Mr Brown had asked the infrastructure minister if he would meet with the heritage railway’s officials to explore ways of supporting the organisation to recover after recent flooding and continue to grow as Ireland’s only full-sized mainline heritage railway.

At the start of the year, the railway launched an appeal for financial help as it battled to come to terms with an estimated £3m repair bill following the flood.

Officials asked for help as they attempt to not only reopen for business, but preserve a piece of unique living history for future generations to remember the past.

The flood left the hugely popular railway under water with officials working tirelessly to navigate the aftermath of the catastrophic incident which they say left the organisation in a state of “disarray and threatening its entire future.”

The flood left a trail of devastating destruction in its wake, with the water causing substantial damage, necessitating urgent repairs to locomotives, carriages, track, bridges, platforms, and buildings.

The financial burden was described as “substantial” with volunteers describing the task to return the railway to its pre-flood state and operational condition to ensure its long-term viability and continued contribution to the community as “monumental”.

 Shortly before Christmas it was revealed that a damage report from a specialist railway engineering firm in England estimated that repairing the fleet of almost 30 vehicles to their pre-flood condition would cost several million pounds.

It also suggested it would take around 10 weeks to repair two vehicles at a time, or over three years for the entire fleet and alarmingly revealed that in all cases, the flood had “significantly reduced” the lifespan of every component and assembly on every vehicle.

In the wake of the flood, it was estimated that £30m was needed to provide new flood protection infrastructure in the county town and several others impacted by the severe flooding.

Senior officials from the Rivers team at the Department for Infrastructure said funding is needed to develop a flood forecasting system to predict what level rivers will rise to during heavy rain.

The confirmation came from Jonathan McKee and Gary Quinn in the wake of the November flood when businesses were left under water for almost three days after the wettest October in 150 years.

Mr McKee said that in terms of infrastructure needs and maintenance, the government department needs at least £30m for the year to provide new flood alleviation and flood management infrastructure.

On top of this, he said an additional £8m is needed to maintain the current infrastructure and within this figure, £2m would be needed to develop a flood forecasting centre.

The department is currently able to send out messages in real time in relation to river levels, but Mr McKee and Mr Quinn said that there is a flood forecasting system that can predict where river levels will reach after a predicted level of rain.