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Taoiseach Leo Varadkar promises emergency funding for those hit by damageMet Éireann ‘will need to do better’ with its warnings as unprecedented flooding hits homes and businesses
Almost 120mm of rainfall – more than a month’s worth – hit parts of Cork in the space of 36 hours. Drainage systems were unable to cope as rivers and streams overflowed.
Considerable flood damage was caused in Glanmire, Castletownbere, Killeagh, Youghal, Halfway and Rathcormac in Co Cork. Parts of Waterford and Kerry were also affected.
Met Éireann issued a status yellow rain warning overnight for counties Cork, Kerry, Limerick and Waterford. The warning is valid from midnight on Thursday until 9am on Friday morning.
Heavy rain is expected with a chance of thunder, localised flooding and dangerous travelling conditions.
Midleton bore the brunt of the deluge, with bridges destroyed, roads undermined and more than 100 properties badly damaged.
A massive clean-up operation is underway but heavy overnight rainfall has left the Owenacurra River at risk of breaking its banks for the second time in three days.
A council official admitted that the greatest concern is focused on housing estates astride the Owenacurra River over the next 24 hours.
“Following further heavy rain overnight the River Owenacurra levels continue to rise resulting in a high risk of further flooding in Midleton,” a spokesperson said.
“There is a particular risk at present at Woodland estate. Emergency services are present in the area, conducting door-to-door visits within the estate to ensure the safety of residents.”
Locals queried why a Status Red alert was not issued, given the scale of the rainfall. A Status Orange alert had been in place.
Met Éireann head of forecasting Eoin Sherlock admitted that, given the scale of the flood damage in the south, “maybe we need to do a little bit better”.
The agency is to review the parameters for issuing alerts, especially for rainfall and flooding.
Firat Freddie Uygun cleans out his barber shop Fresh ‘N’ Freddie on Main Street in Midleton, Co Cork. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA
Midleton community centre was temporarily used as a place of refuge for those evacuated from their homes.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar travelled to Cork and viewed the devastation on Midleton’s Main Street. He promised that the Government will provide emergency funding.
“I have visited areas hit by floods in the past, but this is particularly bad,” he said. “There’s a lot of damage done to homes and businesses and it is understandable that people are very upset and angry.
“We are here as a Government not just to express solidarity, but to help. We are putting in place a financial package to help homes that were damaged and flood-hit businesses that were not insured.
“We are going to make sure that help is on the way. I want to pay a particular thanks to the emergency services and all the volunteers who did so much to help people.”
Mr Varadkar said the initial allocation will be €10m. He insisted the fund would not be capped and that further finances will be provided if necessary.
“There is an initial grant of €5,000 just to get people going and then a higher grant of up to €20,000,” he said. “But I think we will have to increase that because the level of damage to some of the stock here is very high – people have brought stock in for Christmas.”
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar speaking with local people on Main Street in Midleton, Co Cork
Mr Varadkar said the Government would do everything possible to support communities.
He added: “The anger and frustration is entirely understandable. We have done about 50 flood-relief schemes [for places] such as Douglas and Bandon. They work. There are another 90 in progress. But we cannot cut corners on them. There are environmental issues and very often objections.
“The one here in Midleton, the preliminary work is done already. The environment assessment is under way and we intend to put in the planning application for next year. But we can’t control whether or not people object.
“I don’t want to give people timelines, but what I can say is that this scheme is being progressed.”
Mr Varadkar denied the Government was prioritising greenways and cycle lanes over vital flood defences as some traders told him defences were not being implemented fast enough.
One business owner said that while the Government was offering €5,000 to €20,000 to businesses, those same operations were facing losses of €100,000 or more.
Meanwhile, Minister for Finance Michael McGrath said businesses in Cork can expect to receive flood relief grants by “next week”.
“The cash will begin to flow from next week,” he told Morning Ireland.
“We have a long-established scheme to support businesses, volunteer groups, community organisations who are impacted by flood events, it’s administered by the Red Cross on behalf of the Irish government.”
This scheme will be in place following a Cabinet decision next week.
“What it provides for currently in the scheme is an initial €5000, and then support of up to €20,000, following consideration of the scale of the damage,” he said.
“Given the scale of the devastation that we witnessed, and the fact that many of these businesses do not have flood cover insurance, because they’ve been flooded in the past, we do believe there will be a need to go further.”
Tánaiste Micheál Martin echoed Mr Varadkar’s sentiments that support will be provided for flood-hit communities, and singled out Sarsfields GAA Club.
“We will make sure that we work with the club to help them in any way possible,” he said. “It’s the club of the late Teddy McCarthy, with an outstanding tradition of serving their community.”
People in Midleton expressed anger that, despite three other flooding incidents over the previous 15 years, the town is still without proper flood defences.
Previously flood-prone towns including Mallow, Fermoy, Bandon and Clonmel escaped Storm Babet without damage, thanks to Office of Public Works (OPW) protection schemes.
A long-awaited flood-defence scheme remains in the planning stage for Midleton, with construction work not expected before 2025.
The scale of damage dwarfed the devastation inflicted on the town by floods in December 2015.
In Glanmire, Sarsfields GAA Club lifted a county hurling title last weekend and are due to face Ballygunner in the Munster Championship. However, their ground and clubhouse sustained severe flood damage.
Sarsfields official Keith Mulcahy said they were “absolutely ruined”. Offers of assistance have been received from other clubs.
The flooding was so intense that the underground pitch-drainage system exploded under the pressure. This led to craters being left on the surface.
Schools remained closed in Midleton yesterday, given the disruption to the roads, while dozens of families were assessing the damage to their homes.
Mother and daughter Roisin and Laurie O’Donnell run HS2 Salon on Midleton’s Main Street.
They had to barricade themselves into their salon as flood waters rose on Wednesday. They successfully got staff and customers – one of whom was pregnant – out safely through a back exit.
“It was unbelievable. I could see the water shaking the front window of the shop. In the end, the force was so great it just blew the window in,” said Laurie.
They opened the salon two years ago and have made a quick success of the business, becoming the only salon in Cork to be listed on the Schwarzkopf Best 2023 Salon Awards.
“Our place is basically wrecked now – there’s so much damage that you just don’t know where to start,” said Laurie. “We have insurance, but the insurance company was on to us this morning to stress that we’re not covered for flooding.”
The clean up gets underway on Main street in Midleton
Eleanor Dunlea, of Lollipop Children’s Shoes, fought back tears as she surveyed the scale of the damage, which affected virtually her entire Christmas stock.
She had spent hours stacking items on high shelves to keep them safe, but the shelves collapsed and everything fell into the water.
“In 15 years, this is the fourth flood I’ve faced. It’s a disaster,” she said.
Sinead Morrissey, who runs Bertelli Menswear, said the water ran “like a torrent” through her shop.
“I know this was an extraordinary event. I know there was very little that could be done to protect stock and property once it happened,” she said.
“But why on earth are we still waiting for a flood protection scheme after all this time?
“They’re telling us work will begin on the Midleton flood defence scheme, but we can’t wait that long. I told them earlier this year we wouldn’t escape that long without a major flood.
“The Government should put their focus on protecting householders and traders and not on amenity investments.”
Like many others, Mark Kennedy, who runs O’Farrell Butchers, is counting the cost.
“In 70 years, this shop has never before flooded,” he said. “We couldn’t believe the water that hit us yesterday.
Barber struggling to rebuild business after Storm Babet brings heavy flooding to Cork
“We had really deep water in the yard behind the shop and it kept pushing in against the water pouring in from Main Street.”
He said he had estimated the damage to equipment and stock at more than €100,000.
“Midleton is a great town and people here support each other,” he added. “But this is a body blow for so many in the town. It has been a tough two years for a lot of traders, especially those in the butcher trade. We certainly didn’t need this.”
At HomeSavers on Main Street, the water reached over a metre deep.
Owner Darius Gorske looked on in horror as stock floated off shelves.
He said the consequences for businesses approaching Halloween and Christmas is enormous, adding: “We will do our very best to bounce back from this, but we have lost a lot of stock and we still don’t know about repairs. It was unbelievable what happened.”
Nine people are employed at the store, and Mr Gorske said they will work around the clock to reopen as soon as possible.
Amid the chaos, some people did their best to help those worst-affected.
Kevin Campbell and his daughter Heather (9) brought a van close to Main Street and offered coffee and tea to those assessing damage to their stores or helping with the clean-up.
“It was Heather’s idea, and we decided to do our bit to help,” Mr Campbell said.
Other local volunteers included a man who waded through chest-high water to rescue a dog.
Cork County Council said it had responded to 57 emergency calls between 5pm on Wednesday and 9am yesterday.
A spokesperson said a number of roads will remain closed pending assessments and repairs.
Mayor of Cork Frank O’Flynn appealed to everyone to exercise maximum caution over the coming days, with further rainfall expected.
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