Up to 50 people were forced to spend the night in temporary accommodation fter yesterday's torrential rain left homes flooded with sewage in Belfast.
Boats were brought in to evacuate residents as 130 homes in the Lower Ormeau area were hit yesterday. Water and sewage was up to 4ft deep and residents complained houses were also without electricity.
The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service took six people to safety by dinghy. Children in a local playgroup had to be carried through raw sewage to safety by their teacher during the heaviest rainfall.
Although most of the flooding was centred around south Belfast, there were other problems in the east of the city.
Counties Down and Antrim were also badly affected and many roads were closed because of flood water. The M2 motorway heading out of Belfast, between Greencastle and Sandyknowes, was shut for a period.
Water Service squads were out across the city helping with the clean-up. But the service's chiefs were asked why the Lower Ormeau community was again suffering flooding after being promised it would never happen again. South Belfast MP Dr Alasdair McDonnell said he was seeking answers as to why River Terrace in particular had suffered again.
The SDLP deputy leader, who went to the scene and spoke of what he called horrendous conditions, said: "People were literally trapped and children in the local playgroup had to be carried to safety. Raw sewage was pouring through the streets and into people's cars and homes."
He added that it was his understanding that the local Water Service pump house at River Terrace had been working to capacity but was not up to the job of coping with the amount of rainfall.
"No matter how heavy the rain, no matter how high the tide levels, a city centre pump house should be capable of handling it. "We need to ensure that the system is upgraded so that this terrible flooding can never happen again," he said.
The people of the area suffered similar flooding three times five years ago - and were told it would never happen again, said the MP. "It was unacceptable then and it is unacceptable now."