Farmers and contractors have pulled together in an effort to help communities affected by the floods that occurred as a result of torrential rain earlier this week.
Images captured by Lorraine Kirk show the extent to which farmers and contractors are going to help local authorities and emergency services deal with the overwhelming workload the floods have caused.
A total of nine tractors have been using umbilical slurry spreading systems to clear a stretch of the A5, the main Strabane to Derry road.
Image source: Lorraine Kirk
Tractors, pumps and slurry tankers have all been utilised in an effort to clear roadways, rescue people stranded in cars and remove water from flooded fields.
Farmers’ crops in the worst affected areas have also been severely damaged by the floods. Fields have been submerged by close to a reported 7ft of water in some cases.
Image source: Lorraine Kirk
Image source: Lorraine Kirk
Homes as well as farmland have been destroyed by the floods; the clean-up is expected to take a number of weeks.
With more rain forecast over the coming days, farmers and contractors are aiming to reduce the water levels by as much as possible.
As people are starting to put their lives back together following the devastation of Tuesday’s flooding, we wanted to share a side of the story you may not have heard.
In the midst of all the chaos, local farmers were out in the most affected areas, in the pouring rain, lending their time, expertise and machinery to help people in their time of need. They put their tractors and slurry trailers into action to rescue people from their cars & homes, and pumped flood water from roads & properties.
They were a tremendous help to the emergency services and did it all out of a sense of community, asking nothing in return.
So we just wanted to give a shout out to those farmers, many of whom we are proud to say are our clients, and say a great, big THANK YOU. ????All pictures and footage were captured by our Agri Sales Exec Lorraine Kirk who was on the scene throughout the night.
Posted by Autoline Insurance Group on Thursday, August 24, 2017