First downpour floods underpass

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Motorists who had to be rescued from their vehicles after a multi-million pound underpass on a main Belfast thoroughfare was flooded will be making car insurance claims this week.

The Broadway underpass on the Westlink, which carries 70,000 vehicles a day, filled with more than 100 million litres of water in a couple of hours.

Vehicles disappeared under 20 feet of water in what was the first time the roads scheme had to cope with a serious downpour.

A river that was diverted to make way for the road scheme is thought to be responsible for the flood after it overflowed.

The underpass was opened a year ahead of schedule last month with Leo Martin, project manager for construction firm HMC, saying the realignment of the Clowney River to the south of the underpass had allowed them to complete the work early.

He said 57mm of rain fell in a few hours - 70% of the total expected for the month - and the river diversion had been unable to cope.

The contractors are preparing a report for the Department of Regional Development's Road Service outlining what happened and they will have to say what measures they plan to ensure it doesn't flood again.

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