Businessmen call for probe as flash flood enters shops

Businessmen call for probe as flash flood enters shops

2 August 2017

BUSINESS owners in Downpatrick have called on Transport NI to carry out a major inspection of town centre drains after their premises were swamped with water during a thunderous downpour on Monday afternoon.

While the heavy shower lasted only a few minutes, it left the owners of John Young Carpets in Church Street and McCartan Sports in Market Street with a major mopping up operation.

The carpet store remained open for business in the aftermath of the downpour, but the sports shop was forced to pull the shutters as the tiled floor, which was covered in mud and swimming under several millimetres of water, posed a danger to customers.

Parts of Scotch Street, Church Street, English Street and Market Street were transformed into mini rivers during the downpour and the tremendous force of hundreds of gallons of water rushing through a storm drain in Scotch Street lifted a heavy concrete cover off an inspection chamber. An inspection of drains at this part of the town also revealed that several were clogged with dirt.

John Young and Paul McCartan said all town centre drains must be inspected and cleaned immediately in a bid to prevent future flooding. 

The problems at the carpet business were caused by a blocked drain on the opposite side of the road in Church Street. As the water level rose, passing cars washed the flood water towards Mr Young’s premises which sits below the level of the main road. While the businessman acted quickly by placing sand bags at the entrance to his store, water found its way in.

“This is the fourteenth time my business has flooded since I have been in Church Street,” he declared. “When the rain started I knew exactly what was going to happen and did what I could, but the water came in. I have repeatedly asked for the drains at this part of the town to be cleaned regularly but that does not appear to be happening. You should not have to run for sand bags to protect your business every time it rains.”

Mr Young contacted his legal advisor on Monday in the aftermath of the flooding incident and is seeking compensation for the damage to his premises.

He added: “The ironic thing is that a drain on the opposite side of the road is responsible for my business flooding. This impacts on business and there is a cost associated with this. This is a pain but the drains should be able to cope. Clearly this is not happening and after around three minutes of heavy rain I am left with this. When it started to rain I knew exactly what was going to happen and while I tried to stem the water look at the mess it has left.”

Mr McCartan said a blocked drain directly outside his sports store was a major factor in flood water rushing in, swamping the entire ground floor, forcing him to close at what is a traditionally busy back to school period.

“Dirt has come into the shop with the flood water and once we have it all mopped up and brushed out, we will have to clean the floor,” he explained. “Thankfully, the clothing stock sits off the floor and was not damaged and my brothers Ciaran and Mel were able to help me lift boxes of trainers off the floor so they were not damaged.

“Things could have been a lot worse and I dread to think what would have happened if the downpour had happened during the night. That said, the water came in and we are now faced with this.”

Mr McCartan argued cloud bursts should not lead to premises flooding and said the blocked drain outside his shop was directly responsible for him being forced to close, adding: “I have not seen anyone clean the drain outside my shop for months and this flooding is a direct consequence. I am appealing to Transport NI to clean this drain and others across the town centre to prevent this from happening again.

“Sadly, this is not the first time this has happened and with winter almost upon us again are we going to be faced with this every time there is heavy rain? We pay our rates and deserve better. We cannot let anyone into the shop as we clear up this mess and that means a loss of business at a busy time of the year.”

Mr Ciaran McCartan added: “If the drain outside the shop is taking away the water we will not be flooded. It is as simple as that. The drains need to be kept clear. We deserve nothing less.”