Flooding traps family in Fr McCullen Park, Kells

Heavy flooding in Fr McCullen Park, Kells, regularly leaves residents trapped in their homes, according to angry locals who say the current problems have existed for decades. Parts of the estate were badly flooded on Monday of last week after heavy rainfall, leaving the Reilly family unable to get in or out of their house. Margaret and Edward Reilly have been living in the Kells estate for 38 years and have had problems with flooding since the beginning. According to their daughter, Audrey Needle, they have contacted the council about the problem on countless occasions, but while some work was carried out a few years ago, the problems continue. "We have been putting up with floods like this for 38 years now and the council are not doing any thing about it," she said. "Last Monday's flood was so deep that anyone walking through it would have had water up to their shins," she added. "We had to take the car in off the road as the water was coming up to the door. It was terrible," she said. Ms Needle said that last week's flooding wasn't just a once-off and they have these problems on a regular basis. "Our garden is ruined. We cannot plant flowers, the grass is destroyed and the regular flooding is lifting the garden wall," she went on. "Any time there is heavy rain like last week, we have floods and we are often unable to leave the house." Ms Needle said that one woman last week had water almost up to her door. "They gave us sandbags last year because they knew we have awful problems here," she said. "Another big concern is that if any of the residents took sick, a doctor or an ambulance could not have accessed them." Ms Needle said that residents wanted something done to alleviate the problem but claimed they were being ignored by the council.