Homes in parts of counties Down, Tyrone and Fermanagh have been hit by flooding after Storm Bert brought sustained and heavy rain on Saturday.
Some residents of Park Avenue in Dundonald and Kings Row in Coalisland were left trapped in their homes as water levels rose.
Flooding incidents were also reported in Kilcoo, Ballinamallard, as well a Royal Mail property in Mallusk.
Mid Ulster SDLP Councillor Malachy Quinn said it was some of the worst flooding he had ever witnessed in the Co Tyrone town, while DUP leader Gavin Robinson said homeowners in Dundonald were left deeply distressed by the events.
A church in the Dundonald has opened its hall to provide shelter and refreshments for those impacted.
Pastor Paul Gray from Crosspoint Community Church said: “We’ve just opened the church hall to allow families to come in.”
“Families have received support, telephone numbers for emergency housing, that type of thing.”
The church has offered the use of its hall over to emergency services, including the fire service and Red Cross.
“We’re church folk just helping out at the present time, offering what we can,” he said.
“If it has to go through the night, we’ve offered them the hall so they can keep it open all night.”
“The fire brigade is really getting the water under control here,” he added.
“Hopefully maybe within the next hour residents can start to assess the damage.”
The arrival of Storm Bert brought widespread disruption across the north on Saturday, with flooding and fallen trees resulting in a number of road closures, while railway services were also severely impacted.
The Met Office has a yellow warning for wind in place until 7pm on Saturday, with wind speeds expected to reach up to 70mph in places, while an overnight warning for snow and rain will remain until 11am.
NIE Networks said it was responding to dozens of reports of power cuts across the north on Saturday.
It said the scale of outages meant it was unable to provide customers with an estimated time for the restoration of their electricity supply.
Translink also announced ‘severe disruption’ to services after flooding caused damage to railway infrastructure.
A spokesperson for the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) said its roads and rivers teams responded to more than 500 incidents since the yellow weather warning for Storm Bert came in last night.
“There has been some internal flooding to properties in Dundonald, Kilcoo, Coalisland and Ballinamallard as well a Royal Mail property in Mallusk. Assistance is being provided to remove the flood waters.
“Some roads across counties Tyrone, Down and Antrim have been blocked by trees and flood waters and crews are on the ground to deal with those incidents.”
The emergency flooding payment scheme has been activated by the Department for Communities.
“The weather warning has now passed and although most rivers have now peaked, staff continue to liaise with multi agency partners and to monitor water levels and remove debris from watercourses to help floodwaters to get away.”
More: Storm Bert: Northern Ireland to be hit by snow, rain and wind over the weekend
#ENT #TRAIN The Belfast to Dublin line has now reopened, please expect delays and disruption as services return to normal operation. https://t.co/hyBCZbPqJs
— Translink (@Translink_NI) November 23, 2024
Police are urging road users to take care, with specific warnings put in place for a number of roads.
‘Significant flooding’ was reported at the Broadway Roundabout in Belfast, impacting traffic to and from the Royal Victoria Hospital.
Bad flooding was also reported on the Ravenhill Road as well as the Belvoir Road junction on the A55 near Martyrs Memorial Church, while some roads in the Newtownabbey area were closed.
Fallen trees were also reported across the north.
In Co Tyrone, flooding hit the A5 in a number of areas, including outside Newtownstewart near the Mellon Country Inn and at Crawford’s Bridge near Beragh, while the Drumlegagh Road heading into Omagh is also flooded.
In Dungiven, a shed roof has been reported to have been blown onto the the Ballyquinn Road, according to police.
Meanwhile, flooding on the Hillhall Road, Lisburn, led to its closure at junctions with the Pinehill Road and Ballylesson Road, in both directions.
Melting snow affected higher ground throughout Saturday after earlier issues on the Coleraine Mountain Road resulting in a closure due to a critter getting stuck - it has since reopened.
Difficult driving conditions have been reported on the Windyhill Road in Limavady, the Glenpark Road, Omagh, and the Glenshane Pass.
In the Republic, Storm Bert has left more than 60,000 homes without power, according to the Electricity Supply Board (ESB).
Met Éireann has put red warnings in place for counties Galway and Cork until midday, while amber warnings are in place for Waterford, Kerry, Clare, Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim.
Major flooding has been reported on Bridge Street in Killybegs, Co Donegal, with flooding also reported in Galway.
⚠️Storm Bert⬇️
— Met Éireann (@MetEireann) November 23, 2024
Very wet & windy this morning with widespread rain & flooding in places as warnings still in place🌧️🌬️
Showery rain will move in from the W this afternoon, heavy at times with hail & thunder possible☔️
Very strong & gusty southerly winds will ease for a time pic.twitter.com/aCIWHlhIDZ
Most weather alerts will be lifted by the afternoon, however a yellow warning for wind will remain in place for Cork, Kerry, Waterford, Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford and Wicklow until 2am on Sunday.
