Dublin and Mayo counting the cost as floods damage roads and homes

FLASH floods destroyed roads and bridges in Mayo on Thursday night, a day after millions of euro worth of damage was caused to areas of north Dublin by a torrential downpour.

Several hours of torrential rain on Thursday, accompanied by thunder and lightning, caused immense damage to infrastructure, especially in the Newport, Glenisland, Westport and Castlebar areas of Mayo.

In Glenisland, a scenic village on the main Belmullet road about 7km from Castlebar, an elderly man had to be rescued from his home by firemen as floodwaters inundated his cottage.

Thirteen families in the townland of Cummer, Glenisland were cut off for a time when their roadway “turned into a river”.

Kevin McNally, who had come from London with his wife Angela to live in a cottage overlooking the Nephin Beg mountains, was disconsolate yesterday as he sifted through sodden piles of personal documents which included his wedding album.

He said: “This is a total mess which might have been avoided if the local drains had been cleaned more regularly.”

In nearby Glenisland the Brown Oak river burst its banks, covering the ancient cemetery in mud and debris and breaking a number of headstones.

Local historian Tony Deffely said nothing as bad had been experienced locally since 1826, when a flash flood with waters up to 20 feet deep drowned livestock.

As people in Mayo began the clean-up, questions were being raised by residents of Dublin’s northside about why their homes had been inundated with flood waters for a second time in less than 12 months.

At an emergency meeting convened in Donnycarney Community Centre by Dublin City Council on Thursday evening, locals voiced their displeasure.

“We were told at a meeting last year that this problem is likely to only occur once every 150 years, but here we are again. All the work we have done on our homes since last year is worthless.

“It has been blown apart,” one resident said.

Residents have complained that construction in recent years means that underground river water now has nowhere to drain during periods of heavy rainfall.

A number of people living in the area have had to find alternative accommodation while their homes are made habitable again.

Dublin Central TD Joe Costello, who visited a number of constituents affected by the flooding said: “They say such serious flooding is the result of climate change.

“Whatever its cause, major investment is needed to alleviate its effect on ordinary people.”

Meanwhile the accident and emergency unit at Dublin’s Mater Hospital is expected to remain closed to the public until Monday as a result of flood damage there earlier this week.

And there looks to be little prospect of an early end to the unsettled weather as Met Éireann predicted further thunderstorms over the weekend.