A major clean-up continued yesterday morning after flash flooding caused road subsidance and raw sewage to spill onto streets in the city's Waterside.
There was traffic chaos on Wednesday afternoon as torrential rain battered the city for two hours.
Limavady Road, Rossdowney Road and surrounding areas of the Waterside were the worst affected by the floodwaters.
One Limavady Road resident told
the ‘Journal’: “There was a lot of water but the worst thing about it was the raw sewage. A manhole came off and sewage was flowing down the street in the water.”
A section of Rossdowney Road subsided under the floodwater and had to be sealed off
Businesses in the area reported that trade suffered as a result.
Northern Ireland Water and the Roads Service worked together yesterday morning to clear up the mess
A Roads Service spokesman said that, while a weather warning had been issued for other parts of the North, “such a deluge” was not expected in Derry.
Denis Wilson said: “We had squads out until midnight clearing up and replacing manhole covers that were dislodged.”
Investigation
A spokesperson for NI Water said that “follow-up investigations” were underway and would continue in the coming days, including a CCTV survey of the sewers to “check for damage and blockages”.
The spokesperson added that, over the next few years, NI Water would invest more than £15 million in the Derry area “through various projects to upgrade existing infrastructure and reduce the risk of flooding in the city”.
He added: “NI Water would like to apologise to customers for the inconvenience this has caused.”
Four years ago, similar rain led to major flooding in the city centre, causing extensive damage to homes.
The full article contains 292 words and appears in Journal Friday DER Edition newspaper.
