A Dungannon minister has been praised for providing shelter to four families hastily evacuated from their homes by the NI Fire & Rescue Service during the recent storms.
Due to the stormy weather conditions, a tree had fallen on one of the houses in question, and the four families had to be evacuated due to safety concerns.
DUP councillor for Dungannon DEA, Clement Cuthbertson, was anxious to acknowledge the kindness of Life & Light Christian Centre church pastor, Sheila Johnson.
He told his council colleagues: “I got a phone call at 11.15pm on Sunday night [January 21] from the NI Ireland Fire & Rescue Service, where they had to evacuate four families out of their houses at the drop of a hat.
“I spoke to the pastor of the church who doesn’t live in Dungannon, but jumped in a car and travelled to Dungannon, and opened up the church building for the families to stay in that night.
“So I just want to pay tribute to the church, and those involved in coming to the aid of those four families.”
The Dungannon representative also wished to acknowledge the dedication of NIE staff and tree surgeons who worked in extremely hazardous conditions that night.
“I want just to pay tribute to the staff of NIE, and also there’s a number of tree surgeons based in Mid Ulster and around the Dungannon area who went out on Sunday night, and they were taking their life in their own hands because it was very dangerous,” added Cllr Cuthbertson.
“Any normal people, we shouldn’t expect them to go out, but when our electric goes off we expect them to go out straight away, so I want to pay tribute to them.”
