Early warning system saves town from repeat of flood devastation

HEAVY weekend rainfall caused disruption on roads and some flood damage to properties in Cork and Kerry.

Between five and seven inches of rain fell in parts of the region on Saturday night with some of the worst effects felt in the west Cork town of Bandon.

It was the first time the town’s new flood early warning system (FEWS) sent alerts to property owners, after reaching the second-highest “orange” alert level late on Saturday.

The Bandon and Kilbride rivers reached a height of around three metres, and backed-up drains in some streets caused minor flood damage to premises in low-lying parts of the town centre.

However, fire crews from the town and from Clonakilty helped to avoid much more widespread damage by pumping 2,000 gallons a minute from the street back into the River Bandon.

“We were very close to a repeat of 2009 here, but the emergency services did great work avoiding a catastrophe. The early warning system was effective because it pinpoints what areas are most at risk,” said Labour Party town councillor Gearóid Buckley. The town was devastated by damage from the November 2009 floods, which had prompted Cork County Council to introduce the system that uses technology measuring water levels along the river to predict serious or severe flooding. It allows for text messages to be sent to residents and business owners to receive advance warning of any potential floods, and the owners of almost half of the properties damaged 14 months ago have signed up.

Flooding also led to road closures in the area, with traffic on the N71 national route between Cork city and west Cork diverted around impassable surfaces on the eastern side of Bandon and Innishannon.

The N71 Ring of Kerry was closed at Torc Waterfall on Saturday after heavy flooding in the Five Mile Bridge area between the upper and lower lakes of Killarney made the road, popular with tourists and weekend visitors, impassable, It remained closed yesterday and motorists from Moll’s Gap, Sneem and Kenmare were asked to use the Kilgarvan R569 route to Killarney and elsewhere. Ponding and flooding also led to the closure of the Black Valley road at the Gap of Dunloe near Killarney.