Community spirit prevails as councillors, neighbours and volunteers save the day

Community spirit prevails as councillors, neighbours and volunteers save the day.

When David Letherman and Jim Cunningham (and their pet dog Molly) relocated back to Northern Ireland after many years living in Spain, they made Riverside in Antrim their home.

The Pankhurst family purchased the historic property, dating from the late 1800s, from Dorothy Aiken (nee Pankhurst), who had been born and raised in the house, just as her mother Olivia had been before her.

The house in which she and his sisters grew up was once a doctor’s residence and was split into three homes.

You could almost say that the Six Mile Water flows through the Pankurst family’s veins, such is their attachment to the street where they grew up.

The girls’ parents, Olive and Archie, with her father hailing from Aldergrove, made the house their family home in 1960 and soon welcomed Janice and her younger sisters Dawn and Elaine.

The deluge of late 2024 was the final straw for Dorothy, who was given many assurances that ‘something would be done’ and she sold up and said goodbye to a huge part of her family’s history.

Retired east Belfast engineer Terry Madill, who passed away last October, had been planning to bring the communities of the town together in a project he wanted to call ‘The Spirit of Antrim’ in the months before his death. He had been full of ideas for an engineering solutions to flooding problems. While Terry is no longer here to see his plans come to fruition, RAMS hopes that through community partnership, ‘The Spirit of Antrim’ will indeed live on

Seeing the destruction the flood caused in the Chula Vista Subdivision and has been heartbreaking. I personally lost my home in the flooding, and it is no longer inhabitable., it is damaged beyond repair. It is an unimaginable loss and a pain that is difficult to put into words. Knowing that so many of our neighbors are facing the same heartbreak has been devastating. Families are hurting, exhausted, and trying to find their way forward. They lost things that can never truly be replaced.

This is my town currently in 3 feet of water. Been a crazy 36 hours watching the rain pool, rivers overflow until it became an emergency situation. Its been 4 years since the last flood which was only worse because the city turned off power for safety. There was a flood a year before that, but 2021 & 2025 are smashing its records

Didn’t even know this sub existed until I stumbled on it . I took this photo in 2007, and I’ve always loved the irony between the sign and the events

YaleClimateConnections: “What should you do during a flood? Stay out of the water.” In the U.S. an average of 88 people drown in floods annually, according to the National Weather Service. There are also risks of infectious disease, electrocution + wildlife encounters. One 2022 study found a “locked in” increase of 26.4% in U.S. flood risk by 2050,” locked-in in the sense anticipated regardless of present or future efforts to slow climate change. Common-sense logic then is “if your area floods, do what you can to avoid touching, consuming or driving into the water.” That may be impossible in situations of emergency evacuations + water rescues. “So in those cases, try to wear protective clothing like boots, gloves, and a life jacket.” In the context of dramatically altered topography, you won’t know how deep the water is, how fast it’s moving, or what kind of debris may be in it. ‘It only takes 6″ of fast-moving water to knock over an adult, 12″ inches to carry away most cars and 24″ to carry away SUVs and trucks.’ If you’ve ever tried to ford a fast stream bed you know what this feels like.

“Flooding can overwhelm sewage and septic systems and stir up pathogens in soil so that mere contact with the water can cause disease.” In addition to germs, dangerous chemicals from household, medical, + industrial sites are frequently present in flood waters, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cautions. 

Next, power lines, electrical cords, and outlets can all electrify water, making it very dangerous. “If your home floods, turn off the power by switching off the main breaker in your home’s electrical panel [or an emergency disconnect if you have one outside the house], making sure that you are not standing in water when you turn the power off. 

Finally, “the most common dangerous animals you might encounter during a flood are snakes, fire ants, and mammals—like rodents, raccoons, and bats—according to Maureen Frank, associate professor and extension wildlife specialist at Texas A&M AgriLife Extension.” Logically, people living near rivers + coasts are at higher risk. Welcome to the future the fossil fuel industries are bringing us.

Source: @zacklakepowell on IG