Residents in the Waterways estate in Sallins, Co Kildare, this weekend resigned themselves to the fact that it might be a year before they can return to their flood-damaged homes.

Over 100 people were evacuated on canoes and makeshift boats last Sunday and Monday after water poured into their homes, destroying carpets, floorboards, furniture and electrical equipment. Cars belonging to many residents were also damaged in the floods.

Lorraine Clare and Gerry Murray were on their way to work early in the week when they noticed water beginning to enter their home through the front windows.

"It was all a bit surreal, actually," Clare said. "But we focused all our efforts in getting furniture upstairs and trying to save whatever we could, including our two dogs, which we safely transported to Co Clare."

Their home, which they moved into earlier this year, looked like a house in the early stages of construction when the Sunday Tribune visited.

Walls and floors were bare and pools of water are still dotted around the house. The sitting room floorboards were torn up after buckling under the water, and parts of the house remained soaked.

The couple both lost their cars in the floods.

"I only bought my car three months ago, and I tried to get it out when we saw what was happening, but it was too late. Neither of us have any transport now," Murray said. "The whole estate was in shock when they saw what was happening. The day after, we went outside and literally saw our neighbours staring into the water, asking each other where the assistance would be coming from. No one knew what to do," he added.

The Waterways estate was built on a site which was previously a pitch and putt course, and according to locals it was "notorious for flooding. Games were always being cancelled whenever it started to rain."

Three houses down from Clare and Murray is the Holler family, who also awoke last week to find what they initially thought was "a small amount of water" coming through the front window.

"It was gathering in a small pool at the front window, and I went upstairs to tell my dad what was happening.

"By the time I got back down I found that the water was starting to rush in much faster and within 20 minutes the place was completely awash," says Tuzson Holler, indicating his home's still soaked walls.

The Hollers have been forced to move away temporarily, as the combined effects of the remaining water and smell, lack of furniture and appliances as well as not having electricity has made it impossible to live there any longer

"We are going to stay somewhere else until the rest of the clean-up is done, but the place is in such a state of disrepair that we don't know how long we will be away from home for," Holler said. "It will be months anyway, and some are even saying it will be a year."