Derry mother and sons rescued from flooding by tractor

A mother from Londonderry has described how she was rescued from her flooded home by tractor along with her two young sons.

Several people were forced to leave their homes on Tuesday night after serious flooding in the city.

Dawn Grieve and her two boys, aged two and four years, were in their property in the Ivy Mead area when they were rescued on Wednesday morning.

She said it was "like a scene out of a film".

"I had to leave the house, I actually got a tractor ride out of there by two local boys who are farmers - their mum lives at the top of our street," she said.

"I have two young boys and we had to get out of there at about half three this morning.

"It was too bad for them - they were scared, they didn't have a clue what was going on

"I have never witnessed anything like it in my lifetime and they certainly haven't."

Ms Grieve said that her husband had noticed water lapping close to the edge of their driveway at about 22:00 BST on Tuesday, following heavy rainfall.

"At that stage, we knew we were in a bit of trouble, but it was amazing what I witnessed from the community, everyone was running to a local area where they could get sand and bringing it back, as well as pillowcases," she added.

"It was whatever they could get, just to barricade up people's homes.

"Unfortunately it was a wee bit too late for us, the water had got in and there was nothing we could do about it."

She said that at the time of the rescue, the water was over the level of the first stair in the family's property, and "was making its way to the second stair".

"I have to say we were not the worst affected in the Ivy Mead area, just around the bend from us there were people who had water coming up to the window sills on their ground floor," she said.

Ms Grieve said her husband had remained in the home overnight, with her father-in-law, in case there was more rain.

"At five thirty, he was able to tell me that he had swept most of the water out," she added.