Threat of downpours remains
Despite the brighter outlook, residents in low-lying areas and flood plains remain fearful of the threat of further flooding as a result of the monsoon-like conditions that have now dominated the weather for the past 10 days.
While today’s forecast of sunshine with only a few scattered showers will provide a welcome break for homes and businesses under threat, Met Éireann has warned that some further heavy localised downpours are likely to occur tomorrow. The good news is that drier conditions with some spells of sunshine are expected for the rest of the week.
Aside from Carlow town, which experienced the worst flooding in the past two days, many other areas were also affected by another 24 hours of heavy downpours, which continued into last night.
Driving conditions remained dangerous in many parts of the republic yesterday as steady showers of rain and drizzle ensured that road surfaces stayed slippery with flooding reported on roads in Galway, Tipperary, Offaly, Laois and Kilkenny.
In Offaly, local units of the fire brigade and Civil Defence provided help to residents of the Whitehall Estate in Tullamore, after a local river burst its banks. Although the area was not evacuated, a number of homes suffered flood damage.
The organisers of Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, which is taking place in Tullamore this week, said they were coping with the conditions, although some campsites had to be moved to a temporary location. The road between Borriskane and Athlone was also impassable for a short time due to heavy rainfall.
In Laois, bad weather was blamed for a landslide which partially blocked the road between Killeshin and Abbeyleix. AA Roadwatch has warned that some delays can be expected on the route, as a stop-go system has had to be installed due to the closure of one lane. Parts of the Mountmellick- Portlaoise road were also impassable due to flooding.
Very heavy surface waters were also reported on the N9 between Ballyhale and Mullinavat in Co Kilkenny.
In Tipperary, one access route to the village of Ballyheen near Templemore was cut off after the road partially collapsed. Motorists were also advised to avoid Ballynunty where a bridge collapsed also due to flooding.
Treacherous driving conditions were also reported on the N17 Galway-Tuam road and parts of the N6 Dublin-Galway road.
The weekly market in Athy, Co Kildare, due to take place this morning, was cancelled due to flooding in the town’s main square.
In Belfast, the Broadway underpass, which connects the M1 motorway with the A12 Westlink, remained closed following torrential downpours over the weekend which left water in the underpass reaching depths of 20ft.
Rail services were also affected with mainline trains on the Dublin-Belfast line delayed by up to 90 minutes yesterday due to flooding on the line at Portadown.
The DART line between Malahide and Portmarnock was closed for several hours.
Stena cancelled all its HSS services between Rosslare and Fishguard yesterday.
Meath County Council was still advising residents of Athboy to continue boiling water as a precautionary measure after a local river from which the town draws its water burst its banks.
Eircom said it received about 6,500 reports of faults at the weekend. The worst affected areas were north Dublin, including Clontarf, Blanchardstown, Phibsboro and Portmarnock, as well as Leixlip and Clane in Co Kildare.
An Eircom spokesperson said more than 1,100 staff crews had already dealt with almost 4,300 complaints but that new faults were still being reported due to regular flooding in many parts of the country.
“With Met Éireann predicting further unsettled weather until Tuesday or Wednesday of this week, we estimate it will be at least early next week before normal service levels resume,” said the spokesperson.
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