Fury in Skibbereen as Storm Ellen makes its presence felt
The first time hotel manager Louise O’Donovan knew there was a problem was when she heard her mother Eileen let out a scream.
She and other staff ran to the reception of Skibbereen’s Eldon Hotel and suddenly realised what was going on.
What Louise describes as a “tsunami” of dirty drain water had burst its way in through the front door and was tearing through the hotel past shocked residents.
The sludge and debris-filled water, which was over three feet high at the start, swept through as customers were finishing their meals in the restaurant.
“We all rushed out to reception only to see the water gushing in,” Louise recalled.
“We all ran around grabbing duvets from rooms and cushions and pieces of furniture to try and stop the water but it was no use.
“It swept through the hotel, bringing with it a lot of mud and the place is destroyed.”
She is furious that it happened.
“What happened last night has more to do with drains not being cleared,” she said.
“The county council turned up at 12.45 with crates of sandbags, but they were too late.
“The damage had been done.
“They should have been there during the day.
“I’m sick of this. What is going on is outrageous.
“There needs to be some kind of investigation about who is not doing the work they are supposed to be doing round here.
“They’ve known all about the storm for days, but then business like ours ended up where we have ended up.”
Social Democrats Cork West TD Holly Cairns said: “Someone is not doing their job.”
One of the issues was a build-up of dirt in a nearby culvert on the junction of Bridge Street, where the hotel is, and Rossa Road, known locally as “The Cuttings”.
An OPW spokesperson said: “Very heavy rainfall/runoff swelled a minor watercourse and water was not able to be conveyed through a culvert connecting the watercourse to the main town sewer.
“There may have been a partial blockage at the entrance to the culvert.
“The flood risk at this location is being addressed by Cork County Council who applied for and received funding through the OPW's Minor Works scheme to undertake works.”
Elsewhere in the county, Cobh Marina was badly hit, with one large yacht sinking.
Sailcork.com’s Eddie English told Patricia Messinger on C103's Cork Today ShowCork’s C103: “A large visiting yacht broke loose in the marina and caused huge damage to other boats.
“It was like a bucking bronco jumping around the place.
“Unfortunately she sank during the night.”
Elsewhere in the county there were quite a few trees down in Fermoy, blocking various roads and cutting power lines.
But apart from some spot flooding and power cuts, the area appears to have got off lightly.
Cork County Councillor Noel McCarthy, from the Fermoy Municipal District, said: “We were very lucky and thank goodness it happened at night.
“We had quite a few fallen trees, a few blocked roads, and some flooding.”
As well as Fermoy, there were also trees down in Rostellan, near Midleton, and Lissarda.
Cork County Council dealt with more than 50 reports of fallen trees on Thursday.
Although Skibbereen appears to have borne the brunt of flooding, there was also flooding in parts of Bantry, Midleton and Kinsale.
Although there was also reports of heavy flooding in Bandon, locals there dismissed it as more “heavy ponding”.
Bandon-Kinsale Municipal District councillor Alan Coleman said: “Like other parts of Cork, we got off lightly.
“Our own flood defence system worked well.
“Unlike Skibbereen, the main problem we faced was a few trees down and some heavy ponding.
“We did have a lot of trees down, but in fairness to the council, there were workers out clearing them off the main roads from 1am to around 5am.”
While more than 124,000 customers nationwide had their power restored by early evening, ESB Networks were warning there would still be further 70,000 homes, farms and businesses without power.
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