Air Corps fly over "disaster zone" in Donegal to assess damage

The Air Corps have flown over parts of Donegal to assess what has been described as a "disaster zone."

It is estimated up to 500 homes could have been affected by this weeks severe flooding.

The cost of the clean-up operation will not be known until the full extent of the destruction has been assessed.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar visited the county last night and has said it is extraordinary that nobody was killed or injured.

There are calls for more to be done to protect homeowners in Donegal affected by the floods.

The Minister of State with responsibility for Flood Relief, Kevin 'Boxer' Moran has pleaded with insurance companies not to blacklist areas devastated by this weeks events.

But Fianna Fáil's Eugene Murphy has said homeowners should be protected by law.

"We need to acknowledge and realise that we can't wait for the storm to come anymore, we must have something put in place prior to it," he said.

"If at all possible to try and keep the lid on the bad storms to come to some extent so we don't see the havoc and devastation that has been caused in Donegal."