Motorists left counting cost of flooding
WATER FLOODED INTO CAR
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Wednesday December 02 2009
A WOMAN and her teenage daughter found themselves in the middle of perilous situation when they rounded a blind bend in west Fingal to find themselves in the middle of a huge flood. Joan Larkin and her daughter, Jessie (16) were on the Ashbourne to Swords Road when a flood at the old site of Rolestown National School made them choose another route. They headed for St Margaret's where Joan says the 'floods were even worse' before embarking on a network of back roads around Dublin Airport.
Eventually, the pair rounded a blind corner on Balcultry Road and were in the middle of a huge flood before their Ford Mondeo could be stopped.
Joan told the Fingal Independent: ' The car stopped and the nose tilted forward into what must have been a hidden dip in the road.
'I thought we would be able to back out at first but then the car started to bob and I knew we were in trouble.'
Water started to flood into the car and Joan and Jessie soon decided that the only thing to do was abandon the vehicle.
'I told Jessie to roll up her jeans and get out the window and she did - the water was thigh deep.'
The pair rang the fire brigade and were advised down the phone on how to safely evacuate the car. Joan had trouble getting her window down and decided that the car was flooded anyway so she opened the driver's door and made her escape.
Having failed to get anyone's attention by blowing the horn, Joan and Jessie called to a nearby house where they were very kindly invited in by a local woman who dried their clothes and gave them a hot cup of tea.
The fire brigade soon arrived and waded into the giant flood to haul the car out.
Relieved to be safe and sound, Joan is now waiting for the insurance assessor's report on her 2008 Mondeo. 'The assessor said we were about the 200th call they had taken because of flooding,' Joan told the Fingal Independent.
- John MANNING
