Flood Gates Open

It looks like I got more than I bargained for yesterday in terms of a thunder storm. As the afternoon progressed and the booms faded away, the stories came in of mass flooding across Belfast.

The east of the city was particularly affected with Connswater Shopping Centre closed after flooding and even my Dad's building suffered as a roof partially collapsed and the floor was filled with water.

As I left for work and headed up the Ormeau Road, the traffic was almost at a standstill and I was zi-zagging all over the pavement attempting to avoid the massive puddles.

The Lagan river seemed largely unaffected in no small part due to the weir system doing its job although the water had changed from green to brown because of the sediment being moved around by the swell.

As I made my way through Ormeau Park the grass in most parts looked like lakes and my path was blocked by 4 inches of flooding water so I had no choice but to walk through it.

The final stretch along the Ravenhill Road was a complete disaster and even features as the first picture in the BBC's news article covering the story.


As you can see I could have used a canoe to get to my home and luckily as I rounded the corner the waters had abated and had I stayed in my house all day looking into the back garden, I wouldn't have noticed anything was amiss.

I suppose the warning here is that you should be careful what you wish for because you just might get more than you bargained.