Derrymony community ‘fed up’ with floodwaters

Pulling on wellies to walk down the lane has become a necessity due to flooding since Storm Amy in Derrymony, just outside Bawnboy.

Now the community there consider themselves lucky to even be able to do this, as during the height of the floodwaters, Con O’Gorman’s tractor and transport box was the only way they could get out of their lane and to town for essentials. Residents there say it is the third flood of its kind this year, however they expect more before winter’s end.

Checking the forecast is also essential in the area, as those heading to work park their cars at the opposite side and walk the fields around the flood in the early hours to make it to work on time.

Beverly Palfreyman, who has lived in the area for 12 years, keeps her freezers well stocked and keeps a good supply of pet food in case she can’t get out of her lane. Kathleen O’Gorman, who was born and reared in the area, does the same. It’s nothing new for the Bawnboy native, she even remembers the donkey and cart heading through the floodwaters on her way to school.

“When I was going to school, that’s the truth, my father used to take us out in the ass and cart and bring us into Bawnboy.

“It’s going on too long,” she says.

“You get fed up with it, you can’t get out. We go to whist drives and I go to bingo, you can’t go [when the flood is up].”

Con believes the source of the problem is the local river, which “needs cleaning”.

He says the road “goes down” when lorries come in with “water underneath” the surface.

This time around, Con “just made it” out the lane with his tractor, however the residents of the nine homes there are already worried about the next spell of heavy rain, or the next storm.

“We’re all in our eighties,” Kathleen tells the Celt. Meanwhile they also explained that there are people on the lane who work, children who need to go to school or creche, while there is also a woman with a disability living on the lane. How do people exit the lane during high floodwaters?

“Sometimes they come to me and I put them in the linkbox and take them out to the end of the lane and somebody meets them there in the car,” Con explains, pointing towards the end of the lane, which would be submerged with water.

“The people who are going to work have to cross the fields at six or seven o’clock [in the morning],” Kathleen explains.

“It’s not on really and truly,” her husband Con believes.

“We’re supposed to be one of the richest countries in Europe, that’s what they keep telling us on the television.”

Beverly’s sister visited recently when she pulled on waterproof overalls and walked through the floodwater, which was up to her waist. Meanwhile, Beverly is afraid to drive out of her lane for fear the water would damage her hybrid car.

“The water was getting in the electrics and I was very worried I would lose my rights to getting anything fixed.

“It’s an expensive job if anything goes wrong.”

She said the most recent flood meant she was “trapped” in her home for nearly two weeks. Thankfully no emergency services were necessary during that time, however no post or deliveries came their way.

“We just have to put up with it,” she explains.

“We’re always worried we’re going to be hemmed in,” she says, meanwhile it is “too dangerous” to go out in the dark when it is flooded.

“Engineers on the council should know their job and do something about it,” she believes.

A letter from Cavan County Council to the residents there, which was seen by The Anglo Celt, states: ‘The L-1030 Derrymony road was raised previously with Climate Action and Resilience Funding.

‘During the recent Storm Amy, the water level from Brackley Lake was higher than any previous event. Flood waters crossed the L-1030 Marsh Road and the N-87 at the junction with the Marsh Road.

‘In the short term we will seek funding to raise the road again,’ the letter stated.

The letter continued to describe the conditions below the Derrymony road as “extremely poor” and states that raising the road “adds more weight on the soil below”, which in time “leads to the road sinking”.

‘I understand that there were discussions some years ago about constructing a new road into Derrymony. I don’t know where these discussions got to,’ an engineer from the council said in the letter.

‘In reality, raising the road is only a short-term solution, a longer-term solution is required.’

Cavan County Council have been asked to comment on the issue.