Mounting fear amongst East Cork locals as Met Éireann forecast further 'significant rainfall'

Sat, 21 Oct, 2023 - 01:00

Pádraig Hoare, Neil Michael, and Sean O’Riordan

Fears are rising among homeowners and businesses in East Cork that they could be hit by another deluge, just days after Storm Babet ripped through the area.

Environment Minister Eamon Ryan admitted he is fearful of what could be in store for the likes of Midleton on Monday, following a briefing with emergency services and council officials amid forecasts of heavy rainfall yet again.

"There is a lot of heavy rain forecast for early next week, Sunday and Monday. That’s going to be a challenge, with more significant rainfall. We have to make sure we prepare for that but also the cleanup and help the businesses and householders in any way we can," Mr Ryan said.

According to Met Éireann's forecast, heavy rain is predicted from late Sunday evening well into Monday in East Cork. It said:

Further pulses of heavy, possibly thundery, rain are expected to feed up over Ireland on Monday, with some localised flooding possible, as a weather front stalls over the country.

Business owners told Mr Ryan "heartbreaking" stories of losing everything in their premises, with one long-time owner in Midleton telling him that the town could not afford any delay in getting funds to them.

Niamh Brosnan of Brosnan's Pharmacy, which has been on the town's main street since 2004, said:

"I want you to take it back to Government for me...I need someone to stand up for me, I need money and help...I want you to tell Government what I need, and what the rest of this town needs," to which Mr Ryan replied that he heard her message "loud and clear".

Speaking afterward to the Irish Examiner, Ms Brosnan, whose business like most others cannot get flood cover on the main street, said she was dreading what could come early next week for Midleton.

We are so worried again about Monday. I honestly don't think I'd be able for this again, physically or mentally.

A number of business owners relayed to the Irish Examiner throughout the day that the amount of lost stock ran into the tens of thousands, with some exceeding €100,000.

Mr Ryan said the Midleton flood relief scheme is "ready to go to planning" and that he saw "no reason to stop that".

Finance Minister Michael McGrath said he expects the final bill for the flood event to be "very significant".

“We will have to fully compensate relevant local authorities in relation to the cost of reinstating the public infrastructure, the roads, footpaths, any damage to bridges in the public realm, and so on.

"All of that will be done outside of their normal budgets because we recognise this as an exceptional event and does warrant an exceptional response from the State," he said.

“We've made an exceptional provision for the cost of the damage to homes and businesses and I think it will be very large, but it will take some time to fully assess the scale of the damage and the costs."

Minister in charge of the Office of Public Works (OPW), Patrick O'Donovan, said contractors and councils are to examine if the long-awaited flood relief scheme for Glanmire can be speeded up.

Mr O'Donovan spoke yesterday with residents in Copper Valley Vue, the worst hit of the Glanmire housing estates.

More than 20 houses were extensively damaged in the housing estate, which suffered similarly during a flood in 2015.

While the OPW has drawn up specific plans with contractors Sorenson, Mr O’Donovan said it might be possible to reprioritise certain elements to protect properties.

OPW, council and flood scheme workers to look at ways to better protect Glanmire