Sion woman hits out over flooded house
By Conor Sharkey
A disabled Sion Mills woman has told the Housing Executive to "catch itself on" after it claimed her flooded home was still habitable.
Rosemary Waring arrived home on Monday afternoon to find water pouring into her Parkside Gardens house. Burst pipes in the attic sent water running down the walls, causing major damage to almost all rooms in the property. Such is the damage caused, the roof in at least one of the rooms is likely to have to be torn down.
After discovering the damage, Ms Waring contacted the Housing Executive and was informed a plumber would be out within hours. The Executive said however that they would not be offering the 49-year-old alternative accommodation.
Ms Waring, who suffers from a number of health problems, including lung disease, sciatica and asthma, said she had little choice but to try and live in the Parkside Gardens house.
"They should catch themselves on. The water was running through the light fittings on Monday evening. How can they expect someone to live in those conditions? I have no electric, I can't cook food and can't put on the heating.
"But I have nowhere else to go so I'll just have to try and get on with things as best I can. It's hard to take in because I had just started decorating and now all the wallpaper will have to be stripped and the house started from scratch. I don't think the Housing Executive will be paying for the cost of that so I don't know where the money will come from.
"I'm not in the best of health but they expect me to live in a house that's full of damp. If anything happens to me, I'll be holding the Executive responsible.
"It's a difficult situation for me and I really haven't a clue what I'm going to do," Ms Waring said.
In a statement to the Strabane Chronicle the Executive vowed to repair the property as soon as possible but added that they saw no reason why the tenant could not continue living there.
"We have checked this property and have established that, although there has been some damage, there is no reason why the tenant cannot live there. We will ensure that any repairs will be carried out as soon as possible," a spokesperson said.
