We must heed storm’s bad tidings

IT CAME like a tidal wave.” That’s how businessman Finbarr Cahill remembers one of the worst floods to hit the south in the last 40 years.

On March 7, 1962, high tides and heavy rain combined and the river Lee burst its banks, swamping Cork city and flooding the shop where he worked on Finns Corner to a depth of three-and-a-half-feet.

"I remember buses were rescuing people from St Patrick's Street. But what was bad about that flood was that it happened again on the Monday morning," Mr Cahill said.

In 1980, he opened Finbarr Cahill Menswear on Cork's Oliver Plunkett Street, an area devastated by last Wednesday's flooding.

"Nobody was prepared for the flood in 1962. But we were ready for last Wednesday. The '62 flood came in higher than it did on Wednesday but it was definitely the worst flood since," he said.

In 1962, tidal levels reached 3.01m above ordnance data (OD) level, the height above sea level. Last Wednesday evening, the tide reached 2.95m OD.

Flooding like this is going to happen again, and it's going to get worse, not just in Cork and Waterford, but across the country, according to the experts.

Dr John Tyrrell, a lecturer in climatology and severe weather at University College Cork's Department of Geography, said while last week's storm wasn't exceptional, lessons need to be learned.

"We need to learn to live with the environment we have created following our move from rural to urban settings. That's the big challenge we have," he said.

On Wednesday and Thursday, 54mm rainfall was recorded at Cork Airport. 35mm fell in one 24-hour period.

The Irish record for rainfall in one day is 243mm recorded in Kerry in the early 90s.

"That puts last week's storm in context," Dr Tyrrell said.

"The rainfall last week wasn't exceptional but it came with high tides, saturated land from previous rain, south easterly winds driving water up the harbour, and low atmospheric pressure off the Cork coast. And it's going to happen again."

Measures can be taken in the medium term to alleviate the affects, he said.

"Government and local authorities need to development climate hazard audits," he added.

"When we build in places like Carrigaline, Ballincollig and Midleton, it reduces the land's ability to take up the water.

"Housing development is going to have consequences. So alongside regional, county and city development plans, planning authorities should combine to carry out climate hazard audits.

"Developments should be assessed in terms of the likely affect of extreme weather conditions on them not just flooding, but snow, frost, wind, and intense rain.

"It's a direction in which we need to go."

But the public has a role to play too.

"There is a level of sensible behaviour that would help immensely.

"A lot of people were very silly over the last few days, carrying on as normal despite the warnings. Cars were parked in vulnerable areas. And our attitude to debris and litter, clogging up drains, needs to change.

"But we must start with people being aware what forecasts mean and how they should respond," he said.

Professor Ger Kiely, an expert in hydrology and climate change in UCC's department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, agrees.

Ireland needs to prepare for worse weather and needs to be warned, he said.

He has studied rainfall levels and flood frequencies at rainfall stations around the country.

"We've seen big changes in rain patterns over the last two decades. Climate change is here. The storms we're getting are bigger and more frequent. And this is a global pattern."

Prof Kiely said work can be done now to develop flood warning systems. One of his students, Gary Corcoran, in association with council engineers in Mallow, has developed an advanced online flood warning system for the Blackwater Valley as part of his masters at www.irishfloodwarnings.com.

Monitoring stations at Dromcummer, 12 miles upstream from Mallow, and at Duarrigle, a further 12 miles upstream near Millstreet, record water levels in the non-tidal Blackwater, allowing for the prediction of floods downstream.

"We would love to set up a similar system on the Lee in partnership with the Harbour Board, the ESB, the City Council. We have the technology," Prof Kiely said.

"We would love to get the same access to rivers in Kilkenny and Carlow, and around the country.

"If people get warnings on time then they can do something about it," he said.

Members of his department predicted on Tuesday the flooding in Waterford that hit later in the week, he said.

But better methods of communication between the Met Service, local authorities and experts with the general public need to be developed, he said. Ringsend in Dublin was devastated by floods in February 2002.

Damian Cassidy, chairman of the residents' Flood Distress Committee, described last week's flooding in Cork and Waterford as "an emergency situation".

A National Flood Plan that examines drainage systems and supports for vulnerable river banks is needed, he said.

"Studies have been done that show barriers work.

"What is lacking is the will for it to be done," he said.

"The Celtic Tiger needs to turn and look at the dreadful calamity when people are dispossessed like this.

"This is a government responsibility. While local authorities have immediate responsibility, they must look for central funds," he said.

Eamon Walsh, a senior water services engineer with Cork City Council, said that while his department will be reviewing the situation in the coming weeks, future plans depend on funding.

In Prague, temporary barriers can be attached to quay walls to contain the swollen river Moldau, which destroyed historic parts of the city two years ago.

RAISING Cork's quay walls in a similar fashion is one solution being considered, Mr Walsh said.

"A tidal barrage, like the Thames Barrier that prevents the tide from coming back up the river would be the Rolls Royce solution."

"But we will be looking at a range of options. They depend on funding from government," he said.

As the people of Mallow mopped up after the flood last Friday, the Office of Public Works approved a 25 million flood relief plan for the town.

The work, expected to start some time next year, will be allocated to a private contractor, Joe Sherlock TD said.

But the people of Clonmel, Carlow, Wexford, Ennis, Fermoy, Cork and Waterford will have to wait.