By Conor Sharkey
A Strabane woman is facing a repair bill of several hundred pounds after heavy rain forced drains to over flow into her home.
Lorna Stewart awoke on Saturday morning to find the ground floor of her Pearse Gardens home completely flooded.
Wooden floors in the hallway and living room had to be stripped up and damage caused to much of the furniture in the house.
With more heavy rain forecast, Ms Stewart positioned sandbags at the front of her home on Saturday evening.
A good decision it proved to be as on Monday night, the drains again backed up and again her garden was left under water.
Following the nightmare weekend, the mother-of-two has appealed to the Roads Service to step in and resolve the problem once and for all.
She told the Strabane Chronicle: "I was nearly flooded a couple of weeks ago so I contacted the Roads Service.
"Then on Saturday morning I got up and the whole place was flooded. I've had to lift the wooden floors and I've had to keep the heating blazing just to try and dry the house out.
"I've spoken to the Roads Service and they said the drains at the front of the house were cleaned two weeks ago but if that's the case, then how come it's so bad again? Those drains just aren't able to cope with the heavy rain," she explained.
With more heavy rain likely, Ms Stewart is keeping the sandbags in place but she believes the main damage has already been done.
"My hall floor has been destroyed, my living room floor is destroyed and the furniture has been damaged. Where am I supposed to get the money to repair all this? I'm having to burn a fortune in oil too just trying to dry the house out. It's the last thing I need in the mouth of Christmas," she added.
On Tuesday, a Roads Service spokesperson said they had attended the Pearse Gardens property on numerous occasions over the past fortnight.
They sympathised with Ms Stewart but maintained that their drains have been checked and remain clear of any blockage.
Meanwhile NI Water who are responsible for sewerage in the area said they had received no complaints of flooding in the Pearse Gardens area.
Despite the lack of response from the authorities however, there may yet be hope on the horizon for Ms Stewart. Strabane Council has stepped in to ask for an inter-agency meeting in a bid to resolve the situation once and for all.
The Council's Chief Environmental Officer Paddy Cosgrove also said the house would be assessed to see if the homeowner qualified for the £1,000 emergency grant.
"We will assess the house and take it from there but I will be looking for an inter-agency meeting to try and resolve this problem. At this stage who is to blame is not important, it's about making sure this doesn't happen again," Mr Cosgrove said.
