“We just have bad luck, I guess,” said Paulina Suchowiecki as she returned on Thursday with her father, Ryszard Suchowiecki, to survey the damage done to their rented home at Lauriston Park in Midleton, Co Cork, during Storm Frank last month.
Ryszard (43) and his wife, Edyta (38) and their three children, Marcin (18), Paulina (17) and Nicole (5) moved into the house five months ago. The family, originally from Warsaw, moved to Ireland 11 years ago.
“The flooding happened on December 30th – the day before New Year’s Eve,” said Ryszard, a security guard.
“It was about 7pm that it started to flood the houses at the back of the estate and we we went out to help them with sandbags; but later that night, around 11pm, ourselves and the other houses at the front of the estate started to flood.”
Cork County Council workers came with sand but when they ran out of sandbags the family improvised by grabbing pillowcases and duvet covers and filling them with sand to try to prevent the rising floodwater from entering their house.
But the sodden pillowcases and duvet cover lying flattened outside the front door yesterday showed the futility of their efforts. The water seeped through and flooded the house to a depth of 60cm.
The family stayed in the house that night but the next day, New Year’s Eve, they were facing homelessness when the Church of Ireland Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, Paul Colton, came to their rescue during a visit to Midleton.
“He just came over and asked us how we were doing and we told him that we didn’t have anywhere to stay and he came back a short time later and told us that he had organised accommodation for us in Midleton College – he was great,” said Paulina.
Earlier this week, Bishop Colton told the Today With Seán O'Rourke programme on RTÉ Radio 1 how he encountered the family on a visit to flooded areas of Midleton.
“In one area where houses were literally like swimming pools . . . I saw a family standing looking at me, bemused even, really, because there I was in my clerical collar, standing looking with disbelief at the floods, so I went over to them and started chatting to them.”
“I said: ‘By the way, where are you going tonight?’ And they said: ‘Nowhere, we have nowhere to go tonight.’ I turned to a local county councillor and asked him was there nowhere for them and he said: ‘No, the hotels are full, I can’t get anywhere for them.’
“So there and then I phoned the headmaster at Midleton College, where I chair the board, and I said: ‘Look, we have empty dorms – can we boot up the heat and can we get the dorms open? Here’s a family for starters and we can offer it to others.’”
The family, along with their dog, Lola, spent four nights in Midleton College while the school was closed for the Christmas holidays but they had to move out on Monday night when the school reopened. They are now staying at An Stór Midleton Townhouse.
Edyta, who works in the local SuperValu shop, said: “I have been so happy here in Ireland for the last 11 years but it was difficult for my five-year-old daughter Nicole when the house flooded – we were lucky to get a room here in An Stór, because it’s important for her to be near school.”
The Suchowiecki family, who lost all their possessions in the flood, have been in touch with their landlord and learned yesterday it is likely to take six to eight weeks to repair the house. They are looking for alternative accommodation in Midleton.
“We want to stay in Midleton,” said Ryszard “But we will have to wait two months before we can move back into the house.
“Putting us up for a night or two is not a problem for friends, but two months is a long time, so we need to get our own place as soon as possible.”
Anyone who can assist the Suchowiecki family with accommodation in Midleton or the surrounding areas can reach them on 085 1839558.
