‘I saw the water dripping through the ceiling and lights’

DECO the dog was the first to notice something was wrong, as a trickle of water began to flow into the split-level house at Shandon Court just after 1.30am yesterday.

At first, Kelly O’Flynn thought it was a leaking washing machine.

But then came the deafening sound as tens of thousands of gallons of water swept down the cul-de-sac and smashed into her father’s home.

“Deco woke me up initially and then I saw the water dripping through the ceiling and the lights.”

Kelly rushed downstairs with her boyfriend, Martin, to save Deco, and they had to fight against a torrent of water cascading down the stairs as they climbed back up to the front door.

The volume and pressure of the torrent smashed a dividing wall in the drive as the couple fled. The rubble struck Martin’s leg as it collapsed but they got out alive.

She then began to raise the alarm with neighbours in the six other houses in the worst affected corner of Shandon Court.

Dawn revealed the full extent of the damage.

Doors and windows had been smashed by firefighters, to allow the torrent escape.

Piles of sodden carpets were dumped outside the homes, destroyed clothes were being packed into refuse sacks, and people were searching drawers and presses to salvage what they could of treasured possessions.

Kelly’s father, Donal, said he still hasn’t quite come to terms with the scale of the damage to his house, which he bought in 1999. “I don’t know where to start,” he said.

As he stood in puddles in the downstairs bedroom of his ruined house, a water mark more than six feet high was clearly visible in the room.

His neighbour, who was affected by the 1996 flood but who declined to be named, said they were guaranteed then it would never happen again.

“It was like the sea. The damage this time is worse,” she said.

Most of her back garden — of which she was very proud — was washed away. Her garden shed was swept to a different part of the garden.

The torrent also swept down the Fever Hospital Steps to Shandon View Terrace, located below Shandon Court.

John Hartnett, and his daughter, Elaine, who was discharged from hospital last Friday, had to stay in an upstairs bedroom until the waters subsided.

Council officials visited the affected areas yesterday and offered residents emergency accommodation.

They also made arrangement for skips to be delivered, for rubble to be cleared, and for smashed windows and doors to be repaired.

Dehumidifiers will be delivered to the damaged homes in the coming days.