Flood victims still suffering

A LIFE IN BOXES Jeff Greene with some of his destroyed vinyl record collection, among the large amount of possessions ruined by last winter’s flooding of his home at The Neale. Pics: Michael Donnelly

Flood victims still suffering

Neill O’Neill

THE rains have stopped and the waters long since subsided, but the effects of last winter’s flooding in The Neale have not gone away for one family living in the area.
When the heavens opened in late November it was the start of 22 days of continuous rainfall which ended in severe disruption for the local community and began an enduring nightmare for Jeff and Cathy Greene and their 14-year-old son Jamie who live in Neale Park on the main Ballinrobe/Neale road, one of the worst hit areas in the county.
Their two-storey house was flooded three feet high by the time the civil defence forced them to abandon their home in a boat, and when they were allowed to return the sight that awaited them broke their hearts.
“Everything we owned was ruined,” recalls Jeff, outside the house that stood at the centre of a temporary lake just six months ago. “They made us get out because they thought we were going to fry with the electricity and all the water. All our furniture and belongings were floating around and were coming apart from being soaked when we came back, and the entire downstairs part of our house was submerged as high as the windowsills.”
As a result of the flooding damage, the Greene family were confined to living in the upstairs rooms of their house indefinitely. When Jeff received an insurance settlement he expected he was back on the road to normality – only to discover that the amount provided in the settlement wasn’t sufficient to carry out even fundamental repair works to the building. Jeff, who is still paying a mortgage on the ruined house, estimates that the entire amount could have been spent on just moving the salvageable belongings to another location for storage and renting suitable accommodation for his family.
As such, work has been completed to remove damaged flooring and furniture from the downstairs rooms, but that is as far as it has gone. The Greene family now live in conditions best described as unliveable and have no appliances, nowhere to put furniture, an unpredictable electricity supply and a decaying central heating system. The living room and downstairs bedroom which was once home to his daughter, who now lives in Scotland where she studies at St Andrew’s University, are exposed to the bare earth. They have one functioning bathroom but their sewerage system was irreparably damaged by the floods and has been deemed a health hazard.
An engineer’s report seen by The Mayo News states: “In view of  the very extensive structural and surface damage caused to the fabric and structure of this dwelling during the extensive period of submersion under the flood waters, it will be necessary to replace the foundations and lower sections of the walls.” The report also recommends that the building be reconstructed rather than repaired as ‘the structural stability and load bearing capacity of these walls has been seriously compromised’.
At the rear of the house the Greenes have a warehouse where the possessions they have gradually moved over from their former home in America are stored. Still in their shipping boxes, everything belonging to the family, from wedding photographs and birth certificates to clothes and Jeff’s rare collection of original music memorabilia, has been destroyed.
His father-in-law was a famous composer, music promoter and Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee who composed presidential marches for the inauguration of every US President from Franklin D Roosevelt to Bill Clinton. He also promoted acts such as The Beatles and Phil Collins in America and the family had an extensive catalogue of rare and priceless music artefacts of his which have all been lost to the flood.
Jeff is also a musician of some repute, having played with Paul McCartney’s band ‘Wings’ and ‘Meatloaf’. He lost all of his recording equipment and instruments in the flooding.
“These things are gone and can’t be brought back and I’m not asking for them back or for money for them,” he said. “I just want normality and the normal things that a family needs to get on with everyday life. To live like this since November is just not on. My son comes home from school and has nowhere to sit down and do his homework. He is completely demoralised by what’s going on and my wife is upset at having to constantly live like this. We can’t cook a meal, we can’t store food. We love life here since we moved from the States nine years ago and don’t want to move but this situation is mentally taxing and we have had enough.”
A spokesperson for Mr Greene’s insurance company said they were unaware that he had these difficulties and thought that the case was solved and closed like any regular case. They have since initiated contact with his representatives with a view to coming to a conclusion that is satisfactory to both parties.