Students back in the classroom after flooding forced evacuation

Firefighters from Thomastown and Graiguenamanagh fire brigades assisting with the orderly evacuation of St Colmcille's National School, Inistioge, during flooding in the village on Monday. Picture: Kilkenny County Council Twitter/X

A Kilkenny principal has shared her relief in having her pupil's back in their rightful classrooms this morning, after widespread rain led to a forced evacuation on Monday afternoon.

Anita Foley, Principal of St Colmcille's National School in Inistioge, described the "hectic" scenes observed within the school yesterday, grateful that with the help of volunteers and the fire service the situation was restored.

"Happily the children are in their classrooms this morning," and the "sun is shining", she said.

Firefighters were forced to step in to help to evacuate pupils from a Kilkenny school, as heavy rain again brought flooding to parts of the country on Monday.

Firefighters from Thomastown and Graiguenamanagh fire brigades helped to bring youngsters attending St Colmcille’s National School in Inistioge to safety after flooding in the village.

Videos circulated on social media showed a significant amount of surface water surrounding the school.

A spokesperson for Kilkenny County Council said that assistance was provided to the school which had "flooded".

"I wish to advise that there is significant surface water on all roads and Kilkenny County Council has deployed all our road crews and fire brigade today where required to deal with numerous flooding issues all across the county today," the spokesperson added.

Throughout the afternoon, further reports emerged of villages such as Freshford becoming impassable due to the weather conditions, as well as the Ardaloo road near Threecastles Bridge.

Motorists were advised to take alternative routes and follow diversions while the flooding persisted.

Waterford

Waterford City and County Council also warned of a number of impassible roads due to the weather conditions, including the Dunmore East to Passage Rd route at Woodstown.

Many other roads were flooded but passable, and the council advised extreme caution to road users.

Ground crews from the council were deployed to address the problems of blocked drains and localised flooding.

Serious flooding was also reported in Ferrybank as water levels rose in a number of areas, with the local post office forced to close.

Wexford

In Wexford, the local authority also issued warnings over impassible roads.

Sharing images on social media of flooding in many areas, Alan O’Reilly of Carlow Weather said that “over 30mm [was] recorded in parts of Waterford and South Kilkenny”.

“Saturated land means heavy rain here near Shilleagh [Co Wexford] is running down the roads and many roads now badly flooded,” he said.

Met Éireann had issued an orange rain warning for Kilkenny, Wexford, and Waterford. It warned of the potential for flooding, dangerous travel conditions, and poor visibility. Status yellow warnings applied to much of the rest of country throughout the day.

Even in those areas, Met Éireann warned of the risk of localised flooding.

In the wake of the serious flooding in Cork last week, Cork County Council had convened its severe weather assessment team in advance of the latest bout of heavy rainfall and warned people to remain vigilant.

In a statement, it said: “Cork County Council is asking areas which were impacted by recent flood events to be conscious of the risk of possible future flooding.

“Residents in flood prone areas who have previously been issued with sandbags are advised to take all necessary precautions considering the forecast.

“Although river levels have dropped over recent days, levels remain elevated.” 

Firefighters from Thomastown and Graiguenamanagh Fire Brigades assisting with the orderly evacuation of St. Colmcille's National School, Inistioge during flooding in the Village this morning. pic.twitter.com/KMCFK7HcPw

— Kilkenny County Council (@KilkennyNotices) October 23, 2023