I HAVE eaten my fair share of fish and chips. But until last week, I’d never pictured myself working in a chipper, surrounded by bubbling vats of hot oil and learning how to make battered fish.

The chips may have been down for a month since a flash flood forced the closure of this legendary takeaway.

Most of the traders in Douglas had no idea what chaos awaited them until early morning radio bulletins alerted them that the Cork City suburb had been badly flooded.

BP and the US Coast Guard sent oil-skimming ships in the Gulf of Mexico back to shore because nasty weather from Hurricane Alex churned up rough seas and powerful winds.