The flooding outside his home on the Derrynahone Road, Maze.

A FARMER has spoken of the five hour battle he faced to save his cattle from the floods.

Ian Armstrong of Derrynahone Road, Maze fought through five feet of water to save the 15 cows and calves as the nearby River Lagan burst its banks.

Ian, who was helped by local assemblyman Edwin Poots, explained: "I live right beside the Lagan which started rising on Saturday evening so I phoned for sandbags and was on the phone for 35 minutes. When no-one came out I phoned Edwin and he phoned them and got them to us on Sunday morning."

Describing the scene, Ian said: "The flood is well up the field, the house had 4-5 feet of water around it, there is still 4-5 feet of water in the field and we had to rescue the livestock.

"Edwin is the only person who helped me," he continued, "the water was three feet from the front door when the sandbags arrived and there was one foot of water in the sheds.

"Edwin helped me move the cattle, there wasn't another person to help, he used his jeep and trailer to help me move the cattle, he worked for hours to help me with his son and daughter. He transferred them to the main farm, we were at it for five hours.

Scared

"Fifteen cattle had to be moved, it took us a long time to get them out of the field, with the water they were cut off, they were a bit scared and didn't know what was happening."

Ian continued: "The people who live beside me their bungalow is ruined. The water has gone down but if the rain stays on it is still close to the house and there is 3-4 feet on the roads. We are the last people left on the road, I don't know how we escaped it, although we are raised up a little bit. Now we are trying to clear up, a lot of stuff came up from the Lagan.

"I've never seen it as bad as this and I have owned this land for almost 20 years," he concluded.

stacev.heaney@jpress.co.uk

Ulster Star
22/08/2008