§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information he has as to the amount of rainfall in the catchment areas of(a) the Foyle-Mourne system, (b) the River Faughan, (c) the River Roe, (d) the River Agivey, (e) the River Moyola on 21 October; and how this compares with the widespread rainfalls in the same areas and falling in the same time scale in recent years.
§ Mr. SainsburyOctober daily rainfall returns from the 250 or so voluntary co-operating observers in Northern Ireland are still being processed and validated. From observations so far to hand for 21 October, it appears that for the Foyle/Mourne river system the daily totals were the highest since at least 1911, although falls of comparable magnitude occurred in 1970 and in 1954. For the Faughan basin, comparable rainfalls occurred in 1968 and 1970. For the River Roe, this was the highest daily fall since at least 1931. For the River Agivey, it was the highest total since 1961, although there was a comparable storm in 1952 and a much heavier fall (although probably more localised) in 1960. The River Moyola had a substantially wetter day in 1969 and another (although probably more localised in extent) in 1970.