People in Belfast living in fear of a grey cloud

Commenting after heavy rain brought flooding to parts of Belfast, UUP Councillor Michael Copeland said:

"It is absolutely absurd that a major city in the United Kingdom should have an infrastructure which is incapable of dealing with heavy rain. It isn't even heavy rain lasting for hours!

"And let's be honest, if it was Stormont, or PSNI HQ, or a government department, then you can bet your bottom dollar that resources would have been found to tackle the problem.

"But we've had this year in and year out across Belfast. People who have had their possessions destroyed. People who can no longer get house insurance unless they are willing to agree to stump up an excess of up to £5000.

"Again, even though longterm forecasts are capable of an early warning of heavy rain there seems to be no evidence of gullys, gutters, drains and covers being swept and prepped for the deluge: no sign of snadbags being handed out: no sign of vehicles and manpower on hand in the immediate aftermath

"As for the so-called dedicated, single-point-of-contact emergency phone number. There is more chance of making a contact through a seance than there is of getting someone to answer that number!

"Belfast has lived far too long in the shadow of rain clouds. People in the worst hit areas expect more, very much more, than pointless sympathy and a clean-up team. They want some confidence that the problem has been addressed and resolved.