Part of Sugar Island in Newry city centre was badly flooded overnight
By Eimear Flanagan & Conor Neeson
BBC News NI
Shops and businesses in Newry city centre have been damaged after heavy rain caused extensive flooding in counties Down, Armagh and Antrim.
Newry Canal burst its banks overnight, flooding parts of the city centre, including Sugar Island, Kildare Street, Canal Quay and part of Bridge Street.
Some roads are also impassable in parts of Killowen, Camlough, Moira, Ballynahinch, Bangor and Helen’s Bay.
It followed an amber weather warning for rain issued on Monday.
On Tuesday morning, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) advised people to avoid Newry city centre.
Just over the border in the Republic of Ireland the N1 road linking Newry and Dublin has been closed in both directions at junction 20, near the Carrickdale Hotel.
On Merchants’ Quay in Newry, Brian McCullagh’s firm BMC Accountants is among the buildings which have been filling up with water.
“The basement is flooded to waist-level,” he told BBC News NI.
The basement of BMC Accountants in Commerial House, Newry
Brian McCullagh’s firm in Newry has been badly damaged
“Although we went paperless a few years ago, all the old files are still down there and so there’s been a lot of damage.
“It’s quite devastating. We refurbished this building three years ago.
“I spent a lot of money on a listed building from 1820 and we came in this morning to find it flooded completely in the basement.”
The building, Commercial House, is just feet from Newry Canal and Mr McCullagh said businesses in the area could not get flood insurance.
A driver got into difficulty in Richhill, County Armagh
Killowen in County Down recorded 75.4mm of rain between 09:00 GMT on Monday and 09:00 on Tuesday, the wettest climate day on record for that station since data was first collected in 1997.
The wettest day on record for Northern Ireland was 31 October 1968 when 158.9mm fell at Tollymore Forest, County Down.
There are two weather warnings in place in the coming days.
From 21:00 on Tuesday until 09:00 on Wednesday a yellow weather warning for rain is in place for the whole of Northern Ireland, with the Met Office expecting 15-20mm of rain in many places.
From 06:00 on Thursday until midnight on Thursday there are yellow warnings for County Down, southern County Antrim and parts of County Armagh, when Storm Ciarán is expected to bring some heavy rain to eastern areas.
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Sandbags were laid along the banks of the Clanrye River in Newry on Monday night as staff from the council and various government agencies tried to protect city centre properties.
Shortly before midnight, Stormont’s Department for Infrastructure tweeted that it was a “well co-ordinated multi-agency response”.
However, the workers could not keep floodwater from Newry Canal away from nearby businesses along Sugarhouse Quay and Canal Quay.
‘Unbelievable’
The area in front of Newry City Hall, including Kildare Street, was also flooded.
Businessman Eamonn Connolly, manager of Newry’s Business Improvement District (BID) organisation, was in the city centre overnight and witnessed the flooding.
“It’s unbelievable,” he told BBC News NI, saying he had never seen the water levels so high.
Image source, Eamonn Connolly
Businesses on Merchant’s Quay have been affected
He said business owners whose properties have been damaged could not yet access their premises.
Mr Connolly added that there is concern that there could be worse to come because of the high tide expected again at about noon.
“There are a couple of walls in the city that look close to being breached,” he said, adding that the Clanrye River appeared to be about 2ft (61cm) from the top of the bridge which houses Newry City Hall.
Mr Connolly said there are other businesses which have not yet been flooded but look to be at risk, so those owners have been advised to move stock and equipment if they can.
He added the BID group has paid for sandbags and canoes in the hope that they can help businesses, but they need clearance from the authorities before they can be used.
Image source, Eamonn Connolly
The scene in Lower Catherine Street in Newry on Tuesday morning
‘A nightmare’
Newry and Armagh councillor Oonagh Magennis said severe flooding was “causing havoc throughout the area”, including Camlough village in south Armagh.
Video footage on social media showed flooding in the forecourt of Camlough’s biggest shop and petrol station.
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“It’s a nightmare,” Ms Magennis told BBC News NI, adding that many roads across south Armagh were badly affected.
Analysis
By Barra Best, BBC News NI weather presenter
Before Monday’s rain, Northern Ireland had already received 152.8mm of rain in October.
That is almost 145% of the normal amount of rain for the entire month.
This figure will increase once the rainfall totals for the 30th and 31st of the month are added.
October 2022 was also very wet – the ninth wettest on record – with 179.1mm of rain.
The wettest October on record goes back to 1870 when 246.6mm of rain fell.
Gary Quinn, director of rivers operations at the Department for Infrastructure, said it had been a long and difficult night but authorities had been well prepared.
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However, he told the BBC’s Good Morning Ulster programme the coming days were due to be a “very difficult period” as more rain is forecast.
“We’re not through the worst of it just yet,” he said.
“There is potential for further impacts in Newry and across Northern Ireland – ground water levels are heavily saturated and river levels are at an all-time high.”
