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Devastating floods ravaged the nation once again last night as we were blasted by hurricane-force winds.
Cork was yet again battered by the storm’s onslaught as people were urged to stay indoors at all times.
Large part of the city and country left out of pocket as homeowners and businesses were let counting the cost yet again.
By eight O’Clock last night, the rebel county was a no-go region as gardai closed roads and diverted traffic to safer parts of the city.
This chaos erupted an hour before high-tide - the most dangerous time for flooding , and many were hoping the worst was over.
But at nine o’clock the feared heavy flooding finally arrived as expected and washed the city out.
The flood defences put in place proved of little help as homes and businesses were pummelled by the downpours.
This was the second devastating flood to rock the county in the space of 36 hours.
Nearly 20,000 homes were also plunged into darkness in the south and southeast of the country
Rose Cronin is one trader who has been hit hard by the heavy downpours in Cork.
She said: “There’s supposed to be 14 inches tonight. So I had to clear everything, every shelf every window and lose another days trading.
“And tomorrow we’ll be doing a clean up.”
Paul O’Connor, who runs a shoe shop in the city, added: “I’ve no flood insurance. Anything that happens comes out my pocket. That’s stuff I can’t budget for and can’t afford.”
Meanwhile, in the capital, the howling winds ripped off signage off a well known city pub.
The Plough Pub just opposite the Abbey Theatre looked a shell of its former self as hurricane-speed winds savaged its exterior.
Luckily, nobody was injured in the incident.
And the bad news is that there’s no end in sight as forecasters warned that another terrifying storm is due to lash us on Friday and Saturday and could rage on for a fortnight.
As counties across Ireland yesterday (TUES) counted the cost of the weekend gales and floods, Met Éireann warned more misery was on the way and urged people to batten down the hatches once again.
Forecasters issued a status orange wind warning with gales of up to 115km/hr set to batter Dublin, Louth, Wexford, Wicklow, Meath, Cork, Kerry and Waterford.
More devastating floods were also expected along eastern and southern coasts with up to 50mm of rain due to fall overnight and this morning.
And while the south and east were set to be worst hit, no one was expected to escape with 100km/hr gusts forecast for the rest of the country.
A Met Eireann forecaster revealed: “There are yellow and orange weather warnings in effect for wind but rivers are swollen and any amount of rain may increase those water levels.
“The weather will be very unsettled and changeable, there’s an Atlantic storm headed our way on Friday night so there’s potential for another storm late Friday and early Saturday.
“If that comes in, it’s going to be very wet and windy.”
The country was put into lockdown from 3pm yesterday (TUES) as people were urged to stay indoors.
Dunmore East in Waterford was also pummeled by massive waves crashing over flood walls the small village.
A shocking video shows huge amounts of water crashing over flood walls into the rain-ravaged region.
But the devastating news for those in Cork is that MORE floods are expected as the River Lee struggles to contain itself.
And the bad news is that a permanent solution to the heartbreaking floods that hit the county at least once a year is at least three years away.
Speaking about a government plan to design new flood barriers for the flood-prone city centre, City Manager Tim Lucey yesterday revealed it could be 2017 before building work even begins.
He said: “The Office of Public Works is well advanced in relation to the design of flood barriers for the city centre and for the Lower Lee catchment area and most recently indeed when the Minister with responsibility for the OPW was in Cork, he committed to having that completed by the third quarter of this year so that’s very well advanced.
“The OPW are managing this work and what’s expected by the third quarter of this year are the actual design options for flood barriers for the city centre.”
Drivers were warned to stay out of the city as the flood-hit centre was put into lockdown and residents and business owners scrambled to protect their properties with sandbags.
Mr Lucey added: “The Flood Emergency Response Plan is essentially when we activate and we call in the various agencies, An Garda Siochana, the HSE, the army and all of our own individual departments so all of those are put on standby in the event that we’ll need to call in additional sources in addition to our own resources during that particular period.
“It also means obviously that we’ll have significant traffic restrictions in place to protect the city centre from early evening.
“While a lot of property owners have their own sandbags, we’re supplementing those.”
The havoc created by the floods and storms was mirrored around the country as forecasters warned there was no let-up in sight.
Iarnród Éireann was forced to put bus transfers in place between Waterford and Kilkenny due to flooding whiles bus transfers remained in place between devastated Limerick and Ennis in Co Clare.
Meanwhile, Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin admitted the Government’s flood abatement strategy will have to be reappraised following the recent flooding.
The anticipated strategy will see the coalition splash out €250 million on flood defences over its four-year term.
But Mr Howlin yesterday revealed he’s “fearful that these events could be part of a regular pattern” rather than a one off.
The minister also said there will have to be extra funding to help with damage and humanitarian aid and tried to reassure people by insisting the Government “is exploring every avenue of support at European level to supplement our domestic supports”.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny last night announced an extra e15 million in relief is to be made available to regions hit hardest by the floods.
This is in addition to funding already available from the various Government departments.
Visiting stricken residents in flooded Limerick, Finance Minister Michael Noonan blamed climate change for our weather misery.
And despite the fact money is tight, Minister Noonan vowed not to abandon desperate storm victims.
He revealed: “We’re not going to leave the public in the lurch.”
“This is a terrible situation that people are in. We have got to make sure the people of this area never ever have to go through this appalling situation.”
“I think we all now believe in climate change, and we must make more provision for higher tides. So, the defences that were here – with the new climates that we are having all around the world – are no longer adequate.”
SOURCE-IRISH MIRROR
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