Water, water everywhere, not any drop to drink.

Saint Valentine appeared to have saved the day for businesses in Cork City yesterday, but while last night’s expected flood never materialised, people in other parts of the country continued to endure weather-related misery.

Traders in Cork City breathed a sigh of relief last night as the city avoided another flood disaster.

In my senior years, it is somewhat frightening to find that the “City by the Lee” continues to be devastated during spring tides by floods, not withstanding the intervening years of advances in technology and a ravaging tiger in funding availability.

Floods damage people’s mental health as well as their property, an expert on human behaviour has warned.

Compensation amounting to €2.2m out of a €10m fund has been paid out to homeowners affected by flooding in the last four years under a Government humanitarian assistance scheme.

The Government has committed to spend at least €50m on a flood defence scheme for Cork City, with preferred engineering options due to be published in July.

Communities living next to rivers are on high alert amid warnings that the country’s major waterways could burst their banks today or over the weekend with the forecast of heavy rain.

Recent days and weeks have been more than challenging for those affected by the floods — and, as the weather forecasters have warned, that challenge is far from over.

The floods will return, but Cork will probably still be without an effective defence, says Investigative Reporter Conor Ryan.

Neil Hegarty, a former Cork City Architect, submitted an unsuccessful alternative proposal to the Jack Lynch Tunnel. The alternative was for a barrage-type river crossing which had some attractive and functional elements.

Has anyone spelled out the alternatives to pylons and renewables, such as building a nuclear power station at Moneypoint and confining economic development to Dublin? Or just turning off all the lights and using candles?

Some years back the planning talk was about a downriver crossing: will it be a bridge, will it be a tunnel?